I 


d^-^^ 


Itheological  seminary,! 

!  Princeton,  N.  J. 

D  6V/.sc^  Division......... 

i\  Section 

i/        Bool:, 


/ 


/I'. 


A  GENERAL  ^D  CONNECTED   -^ 

VIEW 

OF 

THE  PROPHECIES, 

RELATIVE^TO 

i 
THE  CONVERSION,  EES'^OEATION,  UNION,  AND  FUTURE  GLORY 

OS   THE   HOUSES   OF 

JUDAH  AND  ISRAEL; 

THE    PROGRESS,    AND    FINAL    OVERTHROW, 

OF 

THE  ANTICHRISTIAN  CONFEDERACY 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  PALESTINE; 
AND    THE    ULTIMATE    GENERAL    DIFFUSION    OF 

CHRISTIANITY. 


^ 


BY  THE  REV.  GEORGE  STANLEY  FABER,  B.  D. 

VICAR    OF    S TOOK TON-UPON-TEES. 


"At  that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince  which  standeth  for  the  children  of  tli) 
'  people:  and  there  sliall  he  a  time  of  trouble,  such  a^f  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  even  !<■ 
'  that  same  time ;  and  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered."    Dan.  xii.  1. 

\ 


BOSTON : 


PUBLISHED  BY    WILLIAM   ANDREWS, 
T.  B.  WAIT  &  CO.  PRINTERS. 

1809. 


HON.  AND  RIGHT  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  GOD, 

SHUTE   BARRINGTON,   LL.D. 


I.ORD   BISHOP   OF   DURHAM.' 


MY  LORD, 

1  o  complete  the  plan  of  my  Dissertation  on 
the  1260  years^  there  was  wanting,  a  general  and  con- 
nected view  of  the  various  prophecies  -which  treat  of  the 
7Vonderful  events  about  to  take  place  at  the  expiration  of 
that  period.  Prevalent  as  the  powers  of  darkness  may- 
be during  their  allotted  season,  they  are  destined  to 
be  at  length  destroyed.  Their  destruction  will  syn- 
chronize with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  will 
usher  in  that  glorious  state  of  things  so  frequently  and 
so  exultingly  described  by  the  ancient  prophets.  The 
lost  ten  tribes  will  be  united  with  the  tribe  of  Judah ; 
and  the  blessings  of  pure  Christianity  will  be  very 
generally  diffused  throughout  the  world.  Such,  we 
are  led  from  holy  Scripture  to  believe,  will  be  the 
magnificent  close  of  the  great  period  of  1260  years. 

Without  presuming  to  inquire  too  curiously  into 
the  state  of  the  millennian  Church  and  the  nature  of 
the  Messiah's  earthly  reign,  it  is  not  difficult  to  con- 
ceive, how  materially  the  face  of  society  would  be 
changed,  and  how  wonderfully  the  general  condition 
of  mankind  would  be  meliorated,  were  the  Gospel 


IV 

C6rclially  embraced  and  faithfully  acted  upon,  if  not 
absolutely  by  all-,  yet  by  an  incalculably  gi-eat  majori-' 
ty.  At  present,  to  say  nothing  of  the  huge  multitudes 
involved  in  the  darkness  of  Paganism  or  the  mists  of 
Mohammedism,  the  gi'eatest  exertion  of  Christian  cha- 
rity, the  most  laborious  attempt  to  hope  against  hope, 
will  leave  no  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  truly  seri- 
ous, that  even  in  countries  professing  the  religion  of  the 
Messiah  tJie  majority  are  faithful  followers  of  their 
Lord.      We  are  compelled  to  acknowledge,  by  the 
melancholy  testimony  of  our  very  senses,  that  too 
many  have  a  name  that  they  live,  and  are  dead ;  that 
not  merely  lukewarmness  and  indiiference  and  a  disre- 
rcgard  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity  are  prevalent,  but 
that  numbers,  in  Consequeilce  of  their  actual  crimmali- 
ty,  can  be  distinguished  from  Pagans  only  by  an  appel- 
lation^ in  ^/i^?'/*  cases,  an  empty  geographical  appellation. 
Now  let  us  suppose  this  state  of  things  to  be  reversed  ; 
let  us  picture  to  ourselves  either  the  whole,  or  nearly 
the  whole,  of  mankind  as  being  Christians  not  in  word 
only,  but  in  deed  :  and  we  may  perhaps  form  some 
conception  of  the  nature  of  the  Millennium.     What 
the  narrow  primitive  Church  was  in  spirit  and  in  prac- 
tice, the  immense  millennian  Church  would  likewise 
be.      Behold  how   these    Christians   love  each  other, 
would  again  become  a  true  remark.     Where  univer- 
sal affection  prevailed,  where  selfishness  was  as  much 
extinguished  and  evil  lusts  and  passions  were  as  much 
subdued  as  among  the  first  believers,  wars  and  dissen- 
tions,  both  public  and  private,  would  be  no  more. 
Where  holiness  of  conversation,  springing  from  grate- 
ful love  to  God  through  Christ,  was    predominant, 
the  various  miseries    arising  from   vice   and  immo- 
rality would  be  unheard  of     The  world,  in  a  de- 
gree, would  be  brought  back  to  a  Paradisaical  state ; 


and,  when  the  minds  of  men  ceased  to  be  agitated  by 
bad  dispositions,  and  their  bodily  strength  to  be  under- 
mined by  intemperance  and  excess  on  the  one  hand 
and  by  poverty  and  wretchedness  on  the  other,  it  is 
natural  to  suppose,  that  their  lives  would  be  extended 
to  a  much  longer  period  than  they  are  at  present. 

But  some  perhaps  may  ask,  How  can  these  things 
he  ?  To  such  a  question  the  believer  finds  it  not  very 
difficult  to  gi\e  an  answer.  It  was  by  an  abundant  effu- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  by  any  natural  inherent 
goodness  of  their  own,  that  the  primitive  Christians 
were  made  to  differ  from  others.  It  is  by  the  agency 
of  the  same  Spirit  (I  speak  throughout  of  his  ordi- 
nary operations),  that  every  believer  of  the  present 
day  thankfully  acknowledges,  with  Scripture  and  the 
Church,  that  a  new  heart  is  created  within  him.  And 
it  is  by  a  yet  more  abundant  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  both  on  Jews  and  Gentiles,  as  we  are  expressly 
taught  in  prophecy,  that  the  great  mass  of  mankind 
will  truly  and  effectually  be  gathered  into  the  fold  of 
Christ  in  the  days  of  the  Millennium.  There  is  no 
difficulty  in  conceiving,  had  it  been  agreeable  to  the 
purposes  of  the  Most  High  so  to  have  ordered  mat- 
ters, that  all  men  in  the  apostolic  age  might  have  been 
made  like-minded  with  the  primitive  believers ;  and 
that  the  Gospel  might  have  been  universally  received, 
instead  of  being  universally  opposed.  There  is  no  dif- 
ficulty in  conceiving,  that  the  heart  of  a  Nero  or  a 
Dioclesian  might,  ihrough  the  Spirit,  have  been  as 
effectually  turned  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the 
truth,  as  the  heart  of  a  Peter  or  a  Paul.  Consequently, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving,  that  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit, who  was  pleased  only  to  operate  to  a  certain  extent 
in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  may  hereafter  operate  so 
generally  as  to  render  nearly  the  whole  of  mankind 


VI 


similar,  perhaps  even  superior,  in  holiness  and  genuine 
piety  to  the  first  Christians.  All  this,  I  repeat  it,  may 
easily  be  conceived ;  for  who  shall  presume  to  limit 
the  extent  of  God's  operations  ?  And,  whether  I  be 
right  or  wrong  in  expecting  a  miraculous  interference 
of  the  Divine  Word,  we  ai"e  certainly  led  from  prophe- 
cy to  believe,  that  some  such  general  diffusion  of  holi- 
ness will  assuredly  take  place,  and  with  it  (what  is  in- 
deed its  natural  consequence)  a  general  diffusion  of 
happiness. 

This  period,  we  are  taught  to  expect,  will  be  intro- 
duced by  the  most  dreadful  political  convulsions  that 
the  world  ever  witnessed.  Before  "  the  greatness  of 
the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,"  to  adopt  the 
language  of  Daniel,  "  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  the  tyranny  of  the  two 
little  horns  must  be  broken,  and  the  empire  of  the 
great  Roman  beast,  in  his  last  form  and  under  his  last 
head,  must  be  dissolved.  In  the  midst  of  the  expir- 
ing struggles  of  God's  enemies,  the  Jews  must  be  res- 
tored and  converted.  And  thus  at  length,  when  this 
tremendous  tempest  shall  have  exhausted  itself,  the 
glorious  day  of  millennian  happiness  shall  dawn  upon 
a  long  benighted  and  distracted  world. 

What  part  we  mav  be  destined  to  take  in  these  aw- 
ful events,  may  well  afford  matter  of  anxious  anticipa- 
tion to  all  of  us,  more  especially  when  the  present 
situation  of  Europe  is  considered  with  a  reference  to 
prophecy.  That  some  prevailing  maritime  power  of 
j^  faithful  worshippers  will  be  chiefly  instrumental  in 
converting  and  restoring  a  part  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
seems  to  be  declared  in  Scripture  more  than  once  with 
sufficient  plainness:  but  I  am  persuaded  that  your 
Lordship  will  agree  with  me,  that  we  may  employ 
ourselves  much  more  profitably  in  labouring  to  diffuse 


Vll 

the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  aiid  to  increase  among 
us  the  number  of  the  truly  pious,  than  in  speculating 
upon  the  probability  or  improbability  of  our  being  the 
maritime  power  in  question.  We  live  in  times,  which 
might  produce  seriousness  even  in  the  most  unthink- 
ing ;  and  I  am  willing  to  hope,  that  there  actually  has 
been  of  late  years  a  considerable  increase  of  genuine 
religion  among  us.  Our  situation  peculiarly  fits  us  to 
be  the  ark,  as  it  were,  of  God's  Church.  We  must 
beware  of  making  him  our  enemy,  and  then  we  need 
not  fear  what  man  can  do  unto  us.  But,  however  mat- 
ters may  terminate,  your  Lordship  will  have  the  satis- 
faction of  reflecting,  that  you  have  not  been  silent; 
that  you  have  raised  your  voice,  as  a  watchman  of  our 
Israel ;  and  that,  in  the  solemnity  of  what  you  have 
conceived  might  be  a  last  address,  you  have  borne 
your  testimony  against  any  relapse  into  a  superstition, 
from  which  our  pious  forefathers  separated  themselves, 
and  which  is  destined  to  fall  in  the  course  of  God's 
righteous  judgments,  ere  the  glorious  kingdom  of  the 
mountain  shall  commence. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be 

Your  Lordship's  most  obliged 
and  dutiful  humble  Servant, 

GEORGE  STANLEY  FAB^K, 

February  25^  1808, 


PREFACE. 


1  HE  plan,  which  I  have  pursued  in  the  following  workj 
is  the  same  as  that  which  I  adopted  in  my  Dissertation  on 
the  1260  years.  It  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
1806  :  and,  instead  of  altering  the  text,  such  events  as 
have  since  occurred,  that  appeared  worthy  of  our  obser- 
vation, I  have  animadverted  upon  in  the  notes. 

The  longer  I  have  considered  the  subject,  the  more  I 
am  confirmed  in  my  former  opinions.  The  passing  train 
of  events,  the  long  period  of  time  during  which  the  abo- 
minations of  Popery  have  been  suffered  to  prevail  from 
whatever  precise  era  the  appointed  three  times  and  a  half 
ought  to  be  computed,  the  very  spirit  of  the  age  itfelf,  all 
serve  to  shew,  that  we  cannot  be  very  far  removed  from 
what  Daniel  calls  the  ti?ne  of  the  end.  At  least,  whate- 
ver may  be  thought  of  the  other  particulars,  this  last,  I 
mean  the  spirit  of  the  f/o*<?,' seems  to  me  sufficiently  deci- 
sive. "  When  the  Son  of  man  cometh,"  said  our  Lord, 
"  shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth  ?"  The  present  age  has 
been  boastfully  termed  the  age  of  reason  :  and,  when  we 
consider  the  sejise  in  which  it  has  been  so  termed,  we 
can  scarcely  avoid  esteeming  the  appellation  synonymous 
with  the  age  of  unbelief  Individual  unbelief  indeed  has 
existed  in  all  ages  of  the  church  :  but  never  was  there  an 
age,  in  which  infidelity  has  been  so  widely  and  so  syste- 
matically diffused ;  never  was  there  an  age,  to  which  the 
emphatic  question  of  Christ  so  closely  applied,  as  the 
present.  Nor  am  I  at  all  singular  in  my  opinion.  The 
question  of  our  Lord,  as  it  has  been  well  observed  by  a 
late  eminent  divine,  certainly  "  gives  us  reason  to  ex- 
pect, that,  at  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man,  faith  shall 


scarcely  be  found  on  earth.  It  is  obvious  therefore  to 
conckide,  that,  in  proportion  as  the  faith  decays,  the  com- 
ing of  Christ  is  drawing  near.  The  scoifers  of  the  last 
days  may  insolently  demand  of  us,  as  it  was  foretold  they 
should,  where  is  the  pro?nise  of  his  coming  ?  and  object, 
that  there  is  no  sign  of  it,  for  that  all  things  continue 
as  they  were.  But  this  cannot  now  be  said  with  truth. 
All  things  do  not  continue  as  they  w^ere.  There  hath 
been  a  marvellous  change  of  late  in  the  affairs  of  this 
world  and  in  the  state  of  religion,  with  which  all  serious 
men  are  alarmed,  justly  apprehending  that  some  still 
greater  event  is  to  follow.  The  signs  of  the  times,  to 
those  who  can  read  them,  are  many  *." 

Some  have  supposed,  that  the  1260  years  are  already 
expired,  and  that  their  expiration  took  place  about  the 
commencement  of  the  French  revolution.  As  yet  I  have 
seen  no  sufficient  reasons  to  induce  me  to  assent  to  this 
opinion.  According  to  the  most  natural  interpretation  of 
Dan.  xii.  6,  7,  the  interpretation  adopted  by  Mr.  Mede 
and  other  eminent  expositors,  the  interpretation  which 
best  harmonizes  with  parallel  prophecies,  the  Jews  will 
begin  to  be  restored  so  soon  as  the  three  times  and  a  half 
shall  have  expired.  But  the  Jews  have  not  begun  to  be 
restored.  Therefore  we  scarcely  seem  warranted  in  sup- 
posing that  the  three  times  and  a  halfhdvc  expired.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  wonderful 
shaking  of  nations  during  these  last  eighteen  years  is 
preparatory  to  the  return  and  conversion  of  God's  cho- 
sen people,  and  to  the  final  overthrow  of  his  congregated 
enemies. 

In  citing  the  various  prophecies  which  relate  to  these 
events,  I  have  adhered  to  no  one  translation  in  particular, 
but  have  given  that  version  of  them,  by  whomsoever 
proposed,  which  appeared  to  me  best  to  express  their 
true  meaning.  Any  material  variation  from  the  establish- 
ed translation  is  noticed  and  defended  in  the  margin. 
On  this  account,  as  \a'c11  as  for  another  reason,  I  have 
found  it  expedient  to  cite  the  prophecies  in  question  at 
full  length.     In  our  common  version,  one  and  the  same 

*  Jones's  Works,  Vol.  vj.  p.  358. 


XI 


connected  prediction  is  frequently  broken  into  apparently 
unconnected  parts  by  the  arbitrary  division  of  chapters. 
Hence,  the  general  design  of  the  prophecy  is  greatly 
obscured;  and  by  cursory  readers,  who  pause  at  the 
termination  of  each  chapter  as  if  the  subject  were  there 
completely  finished,  can  scarcely  be  understood.  In  the 
following  work,  what  I  conceive  to  be  parts  of  one  pro- 
phecy are  arranged  accordingly  ;  and  several  chapters 
are  frequently  commented  upon  collectively,  as  jointly 
forming  only  one  complete  whole.  The  usual  method  of 
treating  the  subject  by  selecting  detached  texts,  instead 
of  considering  the  unbroken  predictions  of  which  these 
texts  are  mere  parts,  has  always  appeared  to  me  extreme- 
ly defective.  I  have  therefore  departed  from  it,  and  think 
myself  fully  justified  in  doing  so. 

At  one  period  it  was  the  humour  of  the  day  to  spiri- 
tualize the  prophecies,  as  it  was  called :  that  is  to  say, 
those  prophecies,  which  in  their  plain  and  obvious  accept 
tation  relate  to  the  restoration,  the  conversion,  and  the 
future  glories,  of  the  house  of  Israel,  were  referred  to 
the  original  propagation  and  final  uni^'ersal  extension  of 
Cliristianity.  But,  according  to  such  a  mode  of  exposi- 
tion, there  is  scarcely  any  thing  which  the  ancient  pro- 
phecies may  not  be  made  to  declare.  Its  extreme  licence 
affords  a  sufficient  confutation  of  it.  I  entirely  think  with 
the  late  Bp.  Horsley,  that  the  plain  literal  meaning  of  the 
prophecies  which  respect  the  future  fortunes  of  the  Jews 
ought  to  be  strenuously  maintained  by  all  who  study  J 
them.  They  are  occasionally  indeed  written  in  the  lan- 
guage of  symbols;  and,  when  this  is  the  case,  they  must 
no  doubt  be  interpreted  accordingly.  But  the  literal 
applicatio7i  of  them  is  not  thereby  aifected.  The  political  \ 
and  spiritual  revival  of  the  house  of  Israel  may  be  exhi, 
bited  to  us  under  the  imagery  of  the  birth  of  a  child  or  of 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead.  But,  although  the  language 
in  this  particular  be  metaphorical,  the  proper  house  of 
Israel,  not  the  Gentile  Chfirch  of  Christ,  must  be  intend- 
ed, unless  we  wholly  depart  from  the  obvious  sense  of 
the  prophecy.  The  literal  mode  of  exposition  recom- 
mended by  Bp.  Horsley,  in  opposition  to  the  licence  of 
spiritualizing  J  has  been  adopted  by  Mr.  Bichcno,  as  well 


Xil 


as  by  myself :  and,  though  I  cannot  agree  with  him  in 
all  points  (if  I  could,  the  present  work  had  been  super- 
fluous), I  certainly  think,  that  in  his  treatise  on  the  resto- 
ration of  the  Jews  he  has  thrown  much  light,  perhaps 
more  light  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  on  the  subject. 

In  a  work  written  on  the  plan  of  the  present  one,  it  was 
impossible  to  avoid  a  certain  degree  of  repetition  :  but  I 
could  not  give  up  the  plan,  because  I  am  persuaded  that 
it  is  best  calculated  to  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  In  my  preliminary  general  statement,  I  have  de- 
tailed, in  one  unbroken  narrative,  what  I  conceive  may  be 
collected  from  prophecy  relative  to  the  great  events  which 
will  take  place  after  the  expiration  of  the  1260  years. 
But  this,  unless  supported  by  proofs,  would  be  no  better 
than  a  sort  of  theological  romance.  The  proofs  there- 
fore follow  in  their  order.  Each  prediction  is  given  at 
length,  and  each  is  separately  considered.  Now,  since 
all  these  predictions  relate  to  the  same  period,  though 
there  is  a  considerable  degree  of  variety  in  them,  there 
must  likewise  be  much  sameness  ;  and  of  this  character 
of  the  predictions  the  several  commentaries  upon  them 
must  unavoidably  partake.  The  subject  however  is  of 
so  much  importance,  that,  by  those  who  really  wish  to 
study  it,  I  shall  readily  be  excused  for  discussing  it  so 
largely. 


CONTENTS. 


A  GENERAL  Statement  of  what  may  be  collected  from  prophecy  relative  to 
the  restoration  of  Israel  and  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist.     P.  1. 

PROPHECY  I. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Israelites. ...their  idolatry  in  their  dispersion....thcir 
future  restoration.    Deut.  iv.  27— 31.    P.  50. 

PROPHECY  II. 

The  calamities  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem....the  various  circumstances  attend- 
ing tlie  dispersion  of  the  Jews....their  final  conversion  and  restoration, 
Deut.  xxviii.  15—66.  xxix.  22—29.  xxx.  1—10.     P.  51. 

PROPHECY  III. 

The  millennian  glory  of  Jerusalem....the  rebuking  of  Antichrist.  Isaiah  ii» 
1—5.    P.  59. 

PROPHECY  IV. 

The  judicial  blindness  of  the  Jews....their  preservation  from  entire  destruc' 
tion.     Isaiah  vi.  8—13.  P.  60. 

PROPHECY  V. 

The  birth  of  Christ. ..his  second  advent....the  blessings  of  his  millennian  king- 
dom....the  restoration  and  conversion  of  Israel... .the  exhaustion  of  the  mys  < 
tic  Euphrates  and  Nile....the  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  sovereign  of 
the  mystic  Babylon  in  the  land  of  Palestine.  Isaiah  si.  xii.  xiii.  xiv.  I — 2r» 
P.  68. 

PROPHECY  VI. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews....the  irruption  of  Antichrist  at  the  time  of  their 
restoration. ...the  character  of  some  maritime  nation  destined  to  restore  the 
converted  Jews....the  occupation  of  mount  Zion  by  Antichrist.. ..his  invasion 
of  Egypt.... the  state  of  Egypt  at  this  period....the  religious  connection  of 
Assyria,  Israel,  and  Egypt.     Isaiah  xvii.  xviii.  xix.  P.   86. 

PROPHECY  VII. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews....their  restoration  from  the  west....the  lamentatiou 
of  Judah  on  account  of  the  treachery  of  Antichrist....his  restoration  in  the 
midst  of  great  political  troubles.  ...the  overthrow  of  Antichrist....the  triumph 
of  the  restored  Jews.. ..the  certainty  of  their  restoration  and  of  the  over- 
throw of  Antichrist the  exhaustion  of  the   Euphrates  and  the  Nile 

Isaiah  xxiv.  xxv,  xxvi.  xxvii.  P.  115. 

PROPHECY  Vltl. 

The  dispersion  and  subsequent  restoration  of  the  Jews...the  overthrow  of  the 
mystic  Assyrian.     Isaiah  xxx.  17.... 33,  P.  128. 


PROPHECY  IX. 

Tl'.e  desolation  of  the  mystic  Edom....the  miracles  of  Christ  at  his  first  and 
second  advent....the  restoration  of  the  Jews.    Isaiah  xxxiv.  xxxv.  P.    131 

PROPHECY  X. 

The  first  advent... .the  second  advent....the  overthrow  of  Antichrist....the  con- 
version  and  restoratioa  of  the   spiritually  blind  Jews a  denunciation 

against  Babylon.     Isaiah  xlii.  xliii.  1---21.  P.  137. 

PROPHECY  XJ. 

The  gathering-  both  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  into  the  millennian  church. ...the 
greatness  of  Israel....the  fall  of  Antichrist.,    Isaiah  xlix.  5— 26.  P.  143. 

PROPHECY  XII. 

The  joy  and  prosperity  of  the  once  desolate  church  of  Judah  at  the  time  of 
tlie  restoration. ...the  vain  gathering  together  of  Antichrist.  Isaiah  liv.  P.  147. 

PROPHECY  XIII. 

The  spiritual  glory  of  the  millennian  church.... tlie  continental  restoration  of 
the  ten  tribes....the  maritime  restoration  of  the  converted  of  Judali.  Isaiah 
Ix.     P.  150. 

PROPHECY  XIV. 

The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Judah. ...the  triumph  of  Christ  over  the 
mystic  Edom.     Isaiah  Ixii.  Ixiii.     P.  153. 

PROPHECY  XV. 

The  call  of  the  Jews. ...the  mystic  birth  of  the  Jewish  nation....a  description  of 
the  Anticlu'istian  confederacy. ...its  overthrow. ...the  scattering  of  sucli  as 
escape....the  restoration  of  the  converted  ten  tribes. ...the  glories  of  the  mil- 
lennium.   Isaiah  Ixvi.  5 — 24.    P.  163. 

PROPHECY  XVI. 

The  captivity,  restoration,  conversion,  and  union,  of  Israel  and  Judah. ...the 
invasion  of  Palestine  from  the  north  by  Antichrist... .his  destruction.  Jer. 
iii.  1—18.  iv.  5—29.  i.  13—15.  vi.  1,  22,  23.  x.  22—25.  xil.  10—17.     P.  170. 

PROPHECY  XVII. 

The  idolatry  of  the  Israelites  in  the  land  of  their  dispersion....their  restoration 
by  sea  and  by  land....the  punishment  of  Judah... .the  general  conversion  of 
the  Gentiles.     Jer.  xvi.  13—21.     P.  ISO. 

PROPHECY  XVIII. 

A  denunciation  against  those  who  have  tyrannized  over  Israel... .the  restora- 
tion and  conversion  both  of  Israel  and  Judah.     Jer.  xxiii.  1—8.     P.  182. 

PROPHECY   XIX. 
The  gener.ll  restoration  of  Israel...  the  restoration  of  Judah  in  a  time  of  great 
.    trouble. ...the  overthrow  of  Antichrist....the  certaint\'  of  the  restoration  of 
Israel,  and  Ills  Iiappy  st.ate  subsequent  to  it.     Jer.  xxx.  xxxi.     P.  185. 

PROPHECY  XX. 
The  desolation  of  the  mystic  Edom.    Lamen.  iv.  21,  22.    P.  193. 

PROPHECY  XXI. 
he  restoration  and  conversion  of  the  Jews.    Ezek.  xi.  13 — 21.     P.  193. 
PROPHECY  XXII. 
The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Judah  and  Israel... .the  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles..  .Jerusalem  the  liead  of  all  churches,  though  not  by  the  Mosaical 
covenant.    Ezek.  xvi.  46—63.  P.  195. 


PROPHECY  XXm. 

The  restoration  of  Israel....the  long  suffering's  of  the  Jews  in  the  course  of 
their  return.    Ezek.  xx.  33 — 44.  P.  196. 

PROPHECY  XXIV.       * 

The  overthrow  of  the  mystic  Tyre  and  her  prince  preparatory  to  the  com- 
plete restoration  and  prosperity  of  Israel.  Ezek.  xxvi.  7—21.  xxvii.  xxviii. 
P.  200. 

PROPHECY  XXV. 

The  dispersion  of  Israel  through  the  tyranny  of  their  shepherds... .God  will 
require  his  people  at  their  hands. ...the  restoration  of  Judah  partly  in  a  con- 
verted and  partly  in  an  unconverted  state....the  opposition  of  the  unconvert- 
ed to  the  converted,  a  proof  that  the  unconverted  will  be  restored  by  An- 
tichrist....downfal  of  the  mystic  Edom....the  political  revival,  restoration, 
and  final  union  of  Israel  and  Judah. ...the  overthrow  of  Gog  and  Magog- 
at  the  end  of  the  Millennium.  Ezek.  xxxiv.  xxxv.  xxxvi.  1 — 32.  xxxvii. 
xxxviii.  xxxix.  P.  221. 

PROPHECY    XXVI. 

Descriptive  character  of  the  powers  that  will  compose  the  Antichristian  con- 
federacy....the  progress  of  Antichrist  to  Palestine....his  overthrow  there.... 
the  restoration  of  .ludah  during  a  time  of  great  trouble  at  the  close  of  the 
1260  vears.  Dan.  ii.  40 — 45,  34,  35.  vii.  7 — 27.  Rev,  xiii.  xvii.  Dan.  xi. 
36—45.  xii.     Rev.  xvi.  12—21.  xviii.  P.  258. 

PROPHECY  XXVII. 

The  restoration  of  Israel.. ..their  instrumentality  in  converting  the  Gentiles.... 
the  state  of  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  their  dispersion.  Hosea  i.  2 — 11.  ii.  21 
— 23.  iii.  P.  277. 

PROPHECY  XXVin. 
The  captivity  of  Judah  and  Israel....the  application  of  some  of  their  members 
to  the  mystic  Assyrian  to  effect  their  restoration. ...their  distress. ...their 
final  political  revival.     Hosea  v.  8—15.  vi.  P.  281. 

PROPHECY  XXIX. 

The  successive  restoration  of  Judah  and  Israel.     Hosea  xi.  8 — 12.  P.  287. 

PROPHECY  XXX. 

The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Israel....his  rejection  of  Antichrist.  Hosea 
xiv.  P.  289. 

PROPHECY  XXXI. 

Irruption  of  Antichrist  into  Palesthie.. ..his  destruction  there... .general  effusion 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. ...a  descrip^ion  of  the  overthrow  of  the  confederated 
nations  at  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Judah.  Joel  i.  1—14.  ii.  iii. 
P.  292. 

PROPHECY  XXXII. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  and  the  occupation  of  their  country  by  foreign 
invaders  ...their  restoration  and  triumph  over  the  mystic  Edom.  Amos  viii. 
11,  12.  ix.  4—15.  P.  311. 

PROPHECY  XXXIII. 

The  certainty  of  the  restoration  of  Judah  and  Israel.  Micah  ii.  12,  13.  P.  314. 
PROPHECY  XXXIV. 

The  glories  of  the  millennian  church....the  mystic  birth  of  the  .Tewish  nation.... 
the  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy  partly  by  the  instrumenta- 


lity  of  the  Jews.. ..the  advent  of  Christ.. ..he  protects  the  now  converted 
Jews,  and  destroys  the  mystic  Assyrian....the  instrumentality  of  the  Jews 
in  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles.    Micah  iv.  v.  P.  315. 

PROPHECY  XXXV. 
Lamentation  of  the  dispersed  church  of  Israel....a  promise  of  her  restoration 
and  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist.    Micah  vii.  P.  323. 

PROPHECY  XXXVI. 
*rhe  dispersion  of  the  Jews....the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans. ...the 
call  of  the  converted  Jews.. ..their  triumphant  settlement  in  their  own  land 
....the  destruction  of  the  mystic  Nineveh...  the  prevalence  of  pure  religion.... 
the  instrumentality  of  some  great  maritime  nation  in  restoring  the  Jews. 
Zeph.  i.  2—18.  ii.  iii.  P.  327. 

PROPHECY  XXXVII. 
The  various  dispersions  of  Israel  by  four  kingdoms  of  the  Gentiles..  ..the  final 
restora,tion  and  prosperity  of  the  Jews.._the  miraculous  overthrow  of  Anti- 
christ.   Zechi.  12— 21.  P.  344. 

PROPHECY  XXXVIII. 
The  general  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles. 
Zech.  viii.  2...23.  P.  349. 

PROPHECY  XXXIX. 

The  instrumentality  of  Judah  in  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist....the  restoration 
of  Joseph....his  office  of  converting  the  Gentiles....the  fate  of  Egypt  and 
Assyria.    Zech.  x.  3—12.  P.  352. 

PROPHECY  XL. 

The  miraculous  overthrow  of  the  Anticliristian  confederacy....the  conversion 
of  certain  Jews  in  Jerusalem. ...the  preservation  and  conversion  of  the  third 
part  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy.. ..the  previous  sacking  of  Jerusalem 
by  Antichrist....the  manifestation  of  Messiah  to  destroy  Antichrist....the 
extermination  of  false  religion. ...the  destruction  of  Antichrist....the  preva- 
lence of  true  religion. ...the  nature  of  the  plague  with  which  the  faction  of 
Antichrist  will  be  afflicted. ..the  part  which  Judah  will  act.. ..the  final  con- 
version and  prosperity  of  Judah.     Zech.  xii.  xili.  xiv.  P.  355. 

PROPHECY  XLI. 

The  restoration  of  the  Jews  at  the  close  of  the  times  of  the  Gentiles.  Luke 
xxi.  20—24.     P.  369. 

PROPHECY  XLII. 

The  restoring  of  the  kingdom  to  Israel.     Acts  i.  6.  P.  373. 
PROPHECY  XLIII. 

The  present  rejection  and  final  conversion  of  the  Jews,  when  the  fulness  of 
the  Gentiles  shall  have  come.     Rom.xi.  1 — 33.   P.  374. 

PROPHECY  XLIV. 

The  visible  manifestation  of  Christ  to  confound  Antichrist.    Rev.  i.  7.  P.  379. 

Conclusion.  P.  380. 


A  GENERAL  AND  CONNECTED 


VIEW,    &C. 


A  general  Statement  of  what  may  be  collected  from  Prophecy 
relative  to  the  restoration  oJF  Israel  and  the  overthrow  of  Anti- 
christ. 

1  H  E  restoration  of  Israel  and  the  overthrow  of  Anti- 
christ are  so  closely  connected  together,  that  it  will  be 
found  impossible  to  treat  of  the  one  without  likewise 
treating  of  the  other.  In  a  former  work  *  I  have  briefly 
considered  them  both :  but,  the  object  of  that  work  being 
an  examination  of  the  prophecies  which  relate  to  the 
whole  period  of  the  1260  days,  it  was  necessary  to  dis- 
cuss what  is  only  the  catastrophe  of  the  great  drama  with 
a  proportionable  brevity.  Yet  even  that  part  of  the  sub- 
ject appeared  to  be  of  so  much  importance,  as  justly  to 
merit  a  distinct  and  more  ample  consideration.  Hitherto 
I  have  confined  myself  almost  entirely  to  the  prophecies 
of  Daniel  and  St.  John :  noAV  I  purpose  to  take  a  wider 
range,  and  to  collect  into  one  point  of  view  the  various 
scattered  predictions,  which  foretell  that  the  whole  house 
of  Israel  shall  assuredly  be  restored,  and  that  the  power 
of  Antichrist  shall  at  the  same  period  be  broken  for  ever. 
But  first,  that  the  subject  may  be  rendered  more  clear 
and  less  intricate,  I  shall  give  a  general  statement  of  what 
may  be  gathered  from  them  relative  to  those  two  great 
events  f. 

*  A  Dissertation  on  the  prophecies  that  relate  to  the  great  period  of  1260  years. 

1 1  think  it  superfluous  to  croud,  my  margin  with  references,  as  all  the 
prophecies,  upon  which  this  general  statement  is  founded,  will  he.  given  at 
lai'ge  and  commented  upon  hereafter. 

1 


The  era  of  the  restoration  of  Judah  seems  to  be  very 
definitely  marked  by  Daniel.  He  teaches  us,  that  at  the 
close  of  the  three  times  and  a  ha  for  the  1260  days^  God 
will  cease  to  scatter  his  holy  people,  or  (as  Mr.  Wintle 
renders  the  passage)  will  accomplish  the  scatterings  of 
his  holy  people ;  in  other  words,  that  he  will  begm  to 
bring  them  back  into  their  own  land  *.  And,  in  order 
(as  it  were)  that  we  may  not  possibly  misunderstand  him, 

*  "  Until  how  long-  shall  be  the  end  of  these  wonders  .' — It  shall  be  until 
a  time,  times,  and  a  half ;  and,  when  he  sliall  have  finished  to  scatter  the 
power  of  the  holy  people,  all  these  wonders  shall  be  finished."  (Dan.  xii.  6, 
7.)  since  then  all  the  luonders  coiitainediuithin  the  ptriod  (fthe  three  times  and 
a  half  a.ve  finislied  when  the  scattering  of  the  holy  people  is  finished,  the  most 
natural  meaning  of  the  passag-e  seems  to  be,  tlitit  the  period  of  their  scattering 
ivill  coine  to  a  close,  and  consequently  they  themselves  will  begin  to  be  restored, 
when  the  three  times  and  a  half  shall  have  expired.  But  they  liave  not  yet 
begim  to  cease  to  be  a  scattered  people  ;  therefore  the  period  of  their  scatter- 
ing  has  not  come  to  a  close  :  and,  since  this  period  expires  when  the  period  tff 
three  times  and  a  half  ivhich  contains  the  luona'ers  expires,  we  can  scarcely 
avoid  inferring-,  tliat  we  cannot  as  yet  have  arrived  at  the  termination  of  the 
three  times  and  a  half.  In  short,  as  it  appears  to  me,  the  only  certain  badge  of 
this  termination  is  tlie  commencement  oj" the  restoration  ofyudah.  liut  see  the 
matter  fully  discussed  in  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years.  Chap.  iii.  and  in 
my  reply  to  Mr.  Uicheno. 

Some,  I  believe,  have  imagined,  that  the  holy  people,  wliose  scattering  is  to 
be  finished  at  the  end  of  the  1250  years,  are  not  the  yews,  but  those  pious  wit- 
nesses who  are  appointed  to  prophesy  in  sacliclotli  during  tliat  period. 
The  whole  context  however  of  the  prediction  shews  this  opinion  to  be  erro- 
neous. The  revealing  angel  introduces  it  by  informing  Daniel,  that  he  will 
make  him  understand  what  shall  befall  his  people  in  the  latter  days,  or  (as  the 
original  expression  ought  rather  in  that  passage  to  be  translated)  during  the 
succession  of  days.  (Dan.  x.  14.)  Such  being  the  case,  since  tlie  prophecy 
reaches  to  tlie  very  ti')ne  of  the  end,  and  to  the  overthro%v  of  Antichrist,  we  must 
necessarily  suppose,  that  it  will  conclude  witii  foretelling  the  restoration  of 
the  Jeius :  otherwise  the  most  remarkable  event  in  the  history  of  Daniel's 
people  would  be  omitted.  Indeed  the  very  expression  to  scatter  shews,  that 
they  alone  can  be  intended  ;  for  in  none  of  tlie  predictions  relative  to  the  ty- 
ranny oi' Popery  are  the  witnesses  ever  said  to  be  scottered,wor'm{siCX.were  they 
ever  scattered  in  any  such  remarkable  manner  as  the  yews. 

I  am  no  way  singular  in  drawing  the  preceding  conclusion  from  this  pro- 
phecy of  Daniel. 

"  The  yews,^^  says  Mr.  Mede,  **  shall  be  carried  captive  over  all  nations,  and 
yerusalem  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfill- 
ed:  that  is,  until  tlie  monarchies  of  the  Gentiles  should  be  finished.  For 
these  times  of  the  Gentiles  are  that  last  period  of  the  fourth  kingdom  prophe- 
sied of,  a  time,  times,  and  half  a  time  :  at  the  end  wiiereof  the  angel  swears 
unto  Daniel  (Chap.  xii.  7.),  that  God  should  accoviplish  to  scatter  the  power  of 
the  holy  people.  This  is  that  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,  vvliich  being  come,  St. 
Paul  tells  us,  the  Deliverer  shall  come  out  of  Zion,  and  all  Israel  shall  be  saved. 
Rom.  xi.  26.  (Treatise  on  Daniel's  Weeks.  Works  B.  iii.  p.  709).  I  make 
no  question  but  these  times  of  the  Gentiles,  with  which  the  yews'  tribulation 
shall  end,  are  either  the  times  of  the  four  monarchies  in  general  (that  is,  the 
times  of  that  prophesied,  dominion  of  the  Gentiles),  or,  (which  is  all  one  ift 


he  furtlier  informs  us,  that  tliis  shall  come  to  pass  at  the 
same  time  that  an  expedition  into  Palestine  is  undertaken 
by  Antichrist^  \vho  is  there  destmed  to  perish ;  and  that 
this  expedition  shall  take  place  at  a  period  denominated 
the  time  of  the  endy  which,  as  may  be  easily  collected  from 
other  parts  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  denotes  the  period  of  15 
years  wJiich  commences  at  the  expiration  of  the  1260  yearSy 
and  extends  to  the  beginning  of  the  AlilleTmium  *.  Thus 
are  we  in  a  manner  doubly  informed,  that  the  Jews  will 
begin  to  be  restored,  when  the  1260  years  shall  have 
dl'a^\ll  to  their  close. 

As  for  the  order  and  manner  of  the  conversion  of  Israel^ 
his  general  restoration^  and  the  final  expedition  and  over- 
throw of  the  Antichristian  faction,  we  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve, so  far  as  can  be  collected  from  prophecy,  that  they 
will  be  as  follow^s. 

Either  before  or  about  the  expiration  of  the  1260  years, 
the  eyes  of  one  great  division  of  the  scattered  Jews  will  be 
opened ;  and  they  will  joj'^fuily  embrace  the  faith  of  that 
Redeemer,  whom  they  have  so  long  rejected  and  despised.  . 
In  effecting  first  their  conversion  (possibly  before  the 
end  of  the  1260  years),  and  afterwards  their  restoration f 
(certainly  when  the  1260  years  shall  \\2i\Q  filly  expired), 
some  mighty  may-itime  nation  of  faithful  worshippers  will 
be  principally  instrumental.  To  this  great  division  of 
Judah,  destined  to  be  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the 

event)  those  last  times  of  the  fourth  kingdom  of  a  time,  times,  and  half  a 
tim-e."    Works  B.  iv.  epist.  12.  p.  753.     See  also  epist.  8.  p.  744. 

"  Mr.  Lowth,"  says  Mi*.  Wintle,  "  has  recounted  a  number  of  passages  in 
the  prophets,  which  indicate  the  restoration  of  the  ^ews  in  the  latter  days,  or 
when  the  fourth  monarchy  sliall  expire. — .\t  this  decisive  period,  or  after  the 
1260  years  of  the  reign  of  Antichrist  (Popery)  and  the  addition  of  another 
short  term  for  the  restoration  of  the  yews,  will  be  the  end  of  these  wonders  or 
marvellous  things  inquired  after  in  the  last  verse."  (Wintle  on  Dan.  xii.  7.) 
"  Though  the  reign  of  Antichrist  seems  here  fixed  for  1290  years,  which  is  a 
term  of  50  years  more  than  was  mentioned  at  Ver.  7,  this  excess  in  the  opi- 
nion of  some  is  the  time  allotted  for  the  collecting  of  the  ^eius  from  their 
captivity  among  all  nations,  or  the  several  countries  of  their  dispersion  ;  and 
at  the  close  of  Ver.  7  there  does  seem  to  be  a  further  period  alluded  to ybr 
this  purpose,  after  the  time,  times,  and  a  half,  or  the  1260  years."  Wintle  on. 
Dan.  xii.  11. 

*  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260 years.  Chap.  rii. 

■f  Dan.  xii.  1,  6,  7.  relates  to  the  restoration,  not  the  conversion,  of  yudah. 
'T\\&  former  commences  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years. 


truth  while  yet  in  the  land  of  their  dispersion,  the  mari- 
time worshippers  will  be  sent,  the  appointed  messengers 
of  God,  in  swiftly- sailing  vessels :  and,  reverently  obe- 
dient to  the  divine  command,  they  will  bear  them  safely 
in  a  mighty  fleet,  as  a  present  to  the  Lord  of  hosts,  to  the 
place  of  his  holy  name,  even  mount  Zion.  The  Jews 
therefore,  who  are  thus  converted  and  brought  back  by 
sea,  must  clearly  be  such  Jews,  as  shall  be  scattered  either 
through  the  dominions  and  colonies  of  the  maritime  pow- 
er, or  through  those  of  other  s?naller  maritime  iiations  in 
alliance  with  and  professing  the  same  faith  as  the  great 
naval  power  itself. 

At  the  period  when  these  matters  are  transacting,  the 
Ottoman  empire  will  have  been  overthrown,  and  the  great 
confederacy  of  Antichrist  will  have  been  completed.  It 
will  consist  of  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  or  Carlo- 
vingian  head,  the  false  prophet  or  the  ecclesiastical  power 
of  the  Papacy,  and  the  subordinate  vassal  kings  of  the 
Latin' empire.  To  these  Daniel  adds  a  state,  which  he 
describes  under  the  character  of  a  king  that  magnified 
himself  above  every  God,  and  which  from  the  account  of 
its  actions  is  plainly  the  grand  contriver  and  director  of 
the  whole  confederacy^.  Hence  we  are  naturally  led  to 
conclude,  that  tJiis  state  will  at  that  period  be  identified 
with  the  last  head  of  the  beast]-.  The  state  in  question 
I  have  elsewhere  shewn  to  be  Antichristian  France :  and 
recent  events  have  but  too  amply  confirmed  the  conjec- 
ture, that  its  chief  would  sooner  or  later  acquire  the  em- 
pire of  Charlemagne  %.  As  yet  indeed  he  has  not  assumed 
the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  Romans ;  but  he  has  become 
virtually  and  elfectively  the  Emperor  of  the  West,  the 
lord  of  the  destinies  of  France,  Germany,  Spain,  and  Italy. 
With  our  own  eyes  we  may  now  behold  the  rapid  forma- 

*  Having  tlius  specified  the  inembers  of  which  the  Antichristian  confederacy 
is  composed,  I  shall  refrain  hereafter,  in  order  to  avoid  needless  repetition, 
from  particularizing-  tliem.  Wlienever  therefore  I  speak  of  the  Antichristian 
confederacy,  or  the  Antichristian  faction,  the  reader  is  desired  to  understand 
jne  as  speaking'  conjointly  of  all  these  different  members. 

t  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years.  Vol.  ii.  p.  359—365.  (2d.  Edit.  p.  400 
—408.) 

i  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years,  Vol.  i.  p.  317—551,  (2d.  Edit.  p.  346 — 
383.) 


tion  ^iithat  conspiracy  of  federal  kings,  of  which  he  openly 
avows  himself  the  head ;  and  which,  after  the  effusion  of 
the  sixth  vial  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Ottoman  empire*, 
will  begin  to  be  gathered  together  by  secret  diabolical 
agency  to  their  destruction  at  Megiddo.  We  need  only 
look  to  what  is  passing  on  the  great  stage  of  the  Latin 
empire;  and  we  shall  require  no  comment  on  the  pre- 
dicted confederacy  of  the  beast  under  his  last  head,  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Roman  earth.  St.  John 
teaches  us  to  expect  such  a  confederacy  after  the  sound- 
ing of  the  third  woe 'trumpet,  after  the  horrors  of  the  sym- 
bolical harvest,  while  the  blazing  sun  of  military  despo- 
tism is  scorching  with  an  intolerable  heat  the  degraded 
Latin  empire,  in  the  last  days  of  blasphemous  infidelity  ; 
and  we  now  see  the  commencement  of  its  formation. 

While  the  faithful  ??ia?itime  power  is  engaged  in  con-7 
verting  one  great  division  of  the  Jews,  with  a  view  per- 
haps t  to  their  ultimate  restoration ;  the  Antichristian 
confederacy  will  take  under  its  protection  another  great 
division  of  the  Jews,  and  will  prepare  to  direct  its  arms 
against  Palestine,  in  order  to  restore  them  in  an  uncon^ 
verted  state  (and  that  for  mere  political  purposes)  to  the  . 
countiy  of  their  forefathers.  Daniel  has  given  us  a  won- 
derfully minute  account  of  the  progress  of  this  Antichris- 
tian  confederacy  to  Palestine  ;  which,  as  might  naturally 
be  expected  from  the  circumstance  of  the  maritime  pow- 
er commanding  at  sea,  is  plainly  by  land.  Antichrist,  in 
his  attempt  to  invade  the  holy  land  from  his  empire  in  the 
West,  must  necessarily  pass  through  Turkey.  In  whose 
hands  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  will  then  be,  no  one  can 

*  That  the  exhaustion  of  the  ivaters  of  the  Euphrates  means  the  subversion  of 
the  Ottoman  evipire,  is  sufficiently  manifest  from  the  analogy  of  the  apocalyp- 
tic language.  If  the  issuing  forth  of  the  four  angels  from  the  Euphrates  with  an 
innumerable  body  of  cavalry ,  under  the  sixth  trumpet,  denote,  as  it  plainly  does, 
the  rise  of  the  Turkish  monarchy  ;  then,  unless  we  suppose  St.  John  to  be 
utterly  inconsistent  with  himself,  the  exhaustion  of  that  same  Euphrates  must 
denote  its  subversion.  But  see  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years,  Vol.  ii.  p.  344 
et  infra.     (2d.  edit.  p.  381.) 

fit  is  possible,  that  the  tnaritim.e  poiver  may  at  first  attempt  to  convert 
the  yews  without  any  specific  design  of  restoring  them.  Its  restoration  of 
them  may  be  undertaken  in  consequence  of  Antichrist's  project  of  restoring 
the  unconverted  yews.  But  respecting  such  points  as  these  we  can  at  present; 
merely  conjecture. 


at  present  with  certainty  determine  :  but  this  we  know, 
that  the  Ottoman  empire  itself  will  have  been  previously 
overthrown  at  the  beginning  of  the  effusion  of  the  sixth 
vial.  In  this  attempt,  Antichrist  will  meet  with  some 
opposition  from  a  king  of  the  south,  and  with  a  most  de- 
termined and  formidable  resistance  from  a  king  of  the 
north,  who  will  come  against  him  like  a  whirlwind  with 
chariots  and  horsemen  and  many  ships  ;  witli  the  last, 
most  probably  to  prevent  his  crossing  into  Asia.  Yet, 
in  spite  of  all  their  attempts,  he  shall  enter  into  the  coun- 
tries, overflowing  them  like  a  resistless  torrent ;  and,  the 
prophet  specially  adds,  shall  pass  over  ;  meaning,  perhaps, 
over  the  streights  which  divide  Asia  from  Europe,  and 
which  the  northern  potentate  shall  vainly  attempt  to 
block  up  with  his  ships.  This  great  northern  power  I 
have  already  conjectured  to  be  Russia  *  :  and,  the  more  I 
have  since  thought  upon  the  subject,  the  more  I  am  in- 
clined to  adhere  to  my  first  opinion.  What  state  is  meant 
by  the  king  of  the  south,  we  have  not  as  yet,  I  think, 
sufficient  grounds  to  determine. 

Antichrist,  having  now  passed  over  the  streights,  rapid- 
ly advances  into  the  glorious  land  or  Palestine,  overthrow- 
ing and  pillaging  many  countries  by  the  way.  Such  then 
being  his  route,  he  must  necessarily  enter  into  the  holy 
land  from  the  north :  accordingly  this  dreadful  invasion  is 
more  than  once  described  as  proceeding  from  the  north. 
Like  a  vast  flight  of  locusts,  his  armies  cover  the  face  of 
the  whole  countrj^,  devouring  and  wasting,  w'lXh.  their 
accustomed  rapacity,  all  the  productions  of  nature. 

Unsated  by  victory,  he  still  meditates  new  conquests. 
After  placing  his  allies,  the  unconverted  Jews,  in  Jerusa- 
lem and  its  vicinity,  he  now  directs  his  steps  towards 
Eg}^pt.  Edom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Ammon  however,  escape  out  of  his  hand.  For 
this  they  have  to  thank,  not  his  moderation  and  clemen- 
cy, but  merely  their  local  situation.  A  map  will  best 
explain  the  reason  of  their  security.  The  districts,  which 
those  nations  formerly  occupied,  lie  so  far  to  the  east,  as 

*  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years.  Vol.  1.  p.  356.  (2d.  Edit.  p.  400) 


to  be  entirely  out  of  the  way  of  any  army  which  is  pas- 
sing from  Judea  into  Egypt.  But  over  other  countries, 
more  closely  adjoining  to  Egypt,  he  will  stretch  forth 
his  hand:  and,  while  Egypt  is  unable  to  escape  his  ma- 
rauding rapacity,  those,  whom  Daniel  calls  the  Lubim 
and  the  Cushim^  shall  be  compelled  to  attend  his  steps, 
and  probably  either  augment  his  armies  *  or  perform  the 
most  menial  offices  in  his  camp. 

In  the  midst  of  his  African  conquests,  he  is  troubled 
by  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the  north.  What 
these  tidings  are,  Daniel  does  not  positively  determine  : 
but  the  subsequent  context  shews,  that  they  must  relate  to 
the  approach  of  some  new  enemies,  and  to  some  disagree- 
able intelligence  respecting  Jerusalem.  From  these  data^ 
and  by  the  assistance  of  other  parallel  prophecies,  we  may 
form  no  improbable  conjecture  at  least  respecting  those 
tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the  north,  which  are 
described  as  so  grievously  troubling  Antichrist.  We  left 
the  great  maritime  power,  preparing  to  bring  by  sea  its 
allies,  the  converted  Jews,  as  a  present  to  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  to  mount  Zion.  Now,  in  whatever  part  of  the 
world  this  power  may  be  situated,  whether  far  beyond 
the  eastern  or  the  western  Cushean  streams,  it  is  plain 
that  its  navy  can  only  approach  Palestine  by  the  way  of 
the  Mediterranean  sea.  Such  then  will  indisputably  be 
its  course.  The  maritime  expedition  at  length  reaches 
Palestine  :  but  the  converted  Jews,  and  their  naval  protec- 
tors, find  themselves  opposed  by  the  unconverted  Jews, 
and  the  troops  which  Antichrist  had  left  behind  him  to 
garrison  Jerusalem  and  other  strong-holds.  Apparently 
after  no  trifling  bloodshed,  and  (if  I  judge  rightly  from 
some  prophecies)  when  the  converted  Jews  had  suffered 
very  considerably,  the  eyes  of  their  unconverted  brethren 
will  unexpectedly  be  opened ;  they  will  look  upon  him 
whom  they  had  pierced  ;  and,  throwing  off"  the  base  yoke 
oi  Antichrist,  they  will  cordially  join  such  of  their  nation 
as  had  embraced  Christianity,  and  had  allied  themselves 

•  We  have  already  beheld  the  tyrant  take  into  his  pay,  as  body  guards 
those  foreign  mercenaries,  the  IMaraalucs. 


8 

to  the  faithful  maiitime  power.     At  the  period  when 
these  e^'ents  happen,  and  that  they  ivill  happen  is  reveal- 
ed with  sufficient  clearness,  we  may  suppose  Antichrist 
to  be  in  Egypt  and  Libva :   for  to  what  other  time,  in 
the  course  of  his  whole  progress,  can  we  with  equal  pro- 
priety ascribe  them  ?  Thus  situated,  he  would  plainly 
receive  the  intelligence  from  the  north  and  from  the  east. 
From  the  north  and  the  north-east  he  would  learn,  by 
means  of  some  light  vessels,  first  that  the  navy  of  the 
?w«7*?V?;?2<?  yjoiyer  was  approaching,  and  afterwards  that  it 
had  safelv  reached  the  coast  of  Palestine  :   from  the  east 
he  would  learn,  by  means  of  his  own  fugitive  troops 
which  had  been  stationed  in  Judea,  that  the  maritime 
power  had  completely  succeeded  in  its  first  attempt,  that 
it  had  brought  back  a  large  body  of  convei'ted  Jews,  and 
that  those  who  had  been  restored  by  Antichrist  in  an 
unconverted  state  had  suddenly  embraced  the  faith  of 
protestant  Cliristianity,  and  had  revolted  from  him  to  their 
already  believing  brethren  *.      Unless   we    admit,    that 
either  this,  or  something  like  it,  will  be  the  case  ;  we 
shall  find  it  no  easy  matter  to  account  for  the  fury  with 
which  Antichrist  is  represented,  as  returning  into  Judea 
which  he  had  already  subdued,  and  as  besieging  Jerusa- 
lem which  he  had  already  given  to  his  allies  the  uncon- 
ve?'ted  Jews.     For,  that  certain  unbelieving  Jews  will  be 
converted  in  Jerusalem,  is  plainly  asserted  by  Zechariah  : 
and,  that  the  city  will  after\\-ards  be  besieged  and  taken, 
is  asserted  both  by  Zechariah  and  Daniel.    But  all  those 
Jews,  who  are  restored  by  the  maritime  power,  will  return 
in  a  converted  state ;  as  is  manifest  from  the  Ian2:ua8:e 
used  by  Isaiah  and  Zephaniah.     By  whom  then  can  the 
unconverted  Jews  have  been  restored,  except  by  Anti- 
christ, who  will  make  himself  master  of  the  whole  land 
of  Palestine  ?   And  why  should  he  afterwards  besiege 
them  in  Jerusalem,  except  on  account  of  their  conver- 
sion mentioned  by  Zechariah,  and  their  revolt  from  his 
cause?  For,  if  they  had  not  revolted  from  him  after 

*  A  map  will  explain,  how  to  any  person  in  Eg-ypt  news  from  Palestine 
must  come  from  the  north  and  the  east. 


"their  conversion,  no   reason  can  be  assigned  why  he 
should  so  bitterly  attack  them. 

Troubled  with  such  unpleasant  tidings  from  the  east 
•ftnd  from  the  north,  Antichrist  hastily  quits  Egypt  and 
Libya,  and  retraces  his  steps  to  Judea.  Going  forth  in 
the  height  of  his  fury,  he  threatens  to  destroy  all  such  as 
should  oppose  him  :  and,  calling  in  the  aid  of  Popish 
bigotry,  he  sanctifies  his  expedition  by  representing  it  as  a 
holy  crusade  against  heretics ;  and,  with  banners  blessed 
by  the  false  prophet  who  (as  we  have  reason  to  believe 
from  the  Apocalypse  *)  will  be  his  attendant  f ,  he  de- 
votes many  to  utter  extermination  under  the  blasphe- 
mous pretext  of  religion.  His  wonted  success  at  first 
attends  him.  He  besieges  Jerusalem  now  occupied  by 
his  enemies,  and  takes  it.  Here  he  exercises  his  usual 
barbarity ;  a  barbarity,  increased  ten- fold  by  the  defection 
of  his  late  allies.  The  houses  are  rifled,  and  the  women 
are  ravished,  by  his  licentious  soldiery.  Half  of  the  in- 
habitants are  made  captive  :  but  the  other  half  are  per- 
mitted still  to  remain  in  the  city,  under  the  control 
most  probably  of  a  strong  garrison.  Thus  does  he  plant 
the  curtains  of  his  tents  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious 
holy  mountain  :  and  thus  is  Jerusalem,  now  for  the  last 
time,  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles. 

During  these  disasters,  the  troops  of  the  maritime 
power  appear  to  have  retreated  towards  the  sea-shore,  in 
order  that  they  may  be  able  to  regain  their  ships,  if  all 
further  resistance  should  prove  fruitless.  Here  they 
would  doubtless  be  joined  by  the  great  body  of  their 
allies,  the  first  converted  Jews,  and  by  such  of  those  that 
\vere  afterxvards  converted,  as  were  able  to  effect  their 
escape  from  the  rage  of  jlntich?ist.  To  this  devoted 
host  the  tyrant  now  directs  his  attention.  Anticipating 
an  easy  victory  over  his  last  enemies,  either  by  suddenly 
cutting  them  off  from  their  ships,  or  by  compelling  them 
to  re-embark,  and  with  proud  exultation  looking  forward 

*  See  Rev.  xix.  19,  20. 

t  Mr.  Whitaker  conjectures,  that  the  seat  of  the  Papacy  will  be  finally  re, 
moved  to  Jerusalem.  (Comment,  on  Rev.  p.  443.)  I  think  his  conjecture  by 
no  means  improbable.  The  remarkable  passage,  contained  in  Rev.  xix.  19, 
20,  seems  at  least  to  favour  the  belief,  that  the  power  of  the  Papacy,  no  less 
than  that  of  Antichrist,  will  be  broken  in  Palestine. 
Q 


10 

to  the  uncontrolled  empire  of  the  civilized  world,  he- 
leaves  Jerusalem,  and  advances  with  his  whole  army  to 
Megiddo.  Between  this  town  and  the  sea  we  may  sup- 
pose the  troops  of  the  maritime  power  and  the  Jexvs  to 
have  taken  their  position,  hopeless  probably  of  victory 
from  their  vast  disparity  in  numbers  to  the  huge  hosts  of 
their  enem}-.  But  the  battle  is  not  always  to  the  strong, 
nor  the  race  to  the  swift.  At  this  anxious  mom.ent,  the 
glorj-  of  the  Lord  is  suddenly  manifested  in  the  midst  of 
Jerusalem,  and  Jehovah  himself  becometh  a  wall  ot  lire 
around  her.  The  Almighty  Word  of  God  goeth  forth, 
like  a  man  of  war,  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength ;  and 
all  his  saints,  the  innumerable  ai^mies  of  heaven,  are  with 
him.  His  <x\\ivA  commission  is  from  the  Most  High. 
For,  after  the  manifestation  of  the  glory,  the  Lord  of 
hosts  sendeth  him  unto  the  nations  that  have  spoiled  his 
ancient  people  ;  that  he  may  shake  his  hand  o\er  them, 
that  they  may  become  a  spoil  unto  those  A\hom  they  had 
made  their  ser^  ants,  that  they  may  kno^v  that  the  lord  of 
hosts  hath  sent  him,  that  they  may  leani  that  he  who 
toucheth  Juclah  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye.  The  tre- 
mendous vision  halts  for  am.oment  on  the  mount  of  01i\"es ; 
which,  like  Sinai  of  old,  acknowledges  a  present  God,  and 
with  a  mighty  earthcjuake  cleaves  asunder  in  the  midst.  It 
then  advances  to  the  valley  of  Megiddo,  and  hovers  over 
the  heads  of  the  palsied  troops  of  AiiticJirist.  The  divine 
Word  displays  himself  to  the  assembled  nations.  The 
faithful  look  up  Avith  awful  wonder,  kno\ving  that  their 
redemption  draweth  nigh.  Every  eye  seeth  him;  and 
they  also,  his  kindred  after  the  flesh,  which  pierced  him, 
now  behold  him  in  his  glory.  He  cometh  with  clouds  : 
and  all  kindreds  of  the  Latin  eai'th  wail  because  of  him. 
He  descendeth  in  his  wrath :  he  treadeth  the  wine- press 
in  the  fury  of  his  indignation  :  his  gai'ments  are  sprinkled 
with  the  blood  of  his  enemies. 

It  appears,  from  comparing  various  prophecies  toge- 
ther, that  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy 
will  be  eflfected  partly  by  supernatural  and  paitly  by 
natural  agency.  Christ  will  indeed  tread  the  wine-press 
alone,  for  to  his  sole  might  will  the  victory  be  owing  :  yet 
will  he  likewise  use  the  instrumentality  of  others.  While  he 


11 

miraculously  smites  his  enemies  with  a  dreadful  plague, 
so  that  their  flesh  shall  consume  away  while  they  stand 
upon  their  feet,  and  their  eyes  shall  consume  away  in 
their  holes,  and  their  tongue  shall  consume  away  in  their 
mouth  ;  he  will  send  likewise  among  them  a  great  tumult 
from  the  Lord,  so  that  they  shall  lay  hold  every  one  on 
the  hand  of  his  neighbour,  and  his  hand  shall  rise  up  against 
the  hand  of  his  neighbour.  Jiidah  also,  summoned  to  the 
dreadful  task  of  vengeance  by  his  God,  shall  take  an  ac- 
tive part  in  the  destruction  of  his  enemies  :  for,  in  that 
day,  the  Lord  will  make  the  governors  of  Judah  like  a 
hearth  of  fire  among  the  wood,  and  Uke  a  torch  of  fire  in 
a  sheaf ;  and  they  shall  devour  all  the  people  round  about, 
on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left.  Thus  will  Antichrist 
come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him  :  thus  will  the 
beast  noiv  under  his  last  head  be  taken,  and  with  him  the 
false  prophet  that  wrought  miracles  before  him,  with 
which  he  deceived  them  that  had  received  the  mark  of 
the  beast  and  them  that  worshipped  his  image.  These 
both  will  be  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with 
brimstone  :  and  the  remnant  will  be  slain  with  the  sword 
of  that  Almighty  Conqueror  who  sitteth  upon  the  white 
horse,  the  sword  that  proceedeth  out  of  his  mouth  ;  and 
all  the  fowls  will  be  filled  with  their  flesh. 

There  has  been  so  long  a  suspension  of  the  visible  in- 
terpositions of  Providence,  a  suspension  nevertheless 
expressly  foretold  by  Isaiah  *,  that  we  are  apt  in  the  pre- 
sent day  to  feel  a  sort  of  hesitation  in  admitting  that  they 
will  ever  be  renewed.  The  Jexvs  perpetually  required  a 
sign  of  the  Lord,  at  the  period  of  \\\s  first  advent :  ive,  on 
the  contrary,  can  scarcely  bring  ourselves  to  interpret 
literally  even  the  most  express  predictions,  relative  to  his 
miraculous  and  personal  manifestation  at  the  period  of 
his  second  advent  \ .  Few  have  felt  the  influence  of  this 
prejudice  more  than  mj^self :  and  nothing  but  a  laborious 
comparison  of  prophecy  with  prophecy  has  enabled  me 
to  subdue  it.  Yet,  while  I  now  fully  assent  to  Mr. 
Mede's  opinion,  that  there  will  be  some  such  pretema- 

*  See  Bp.  Horsley's  I^etter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  P.  96. 

t  "  The  time  for  the  restoration  of  the  jfews,"  says  Bp.  Horsley,  "is  no  oth- 
erwise defined  than  as  the  season  of  our  Lord's  second  advent."    (^Letter  on 


12 

tural  manifestation,  I  cannot  think  that  he  assigns  to  it  its 
proper  place  in  the  succession  of  events.  He  supposes, 
that  it  will  be  the  cause  of  the  conversion  oi'  the  Jews  : 
whereas,  according  as  matters  appear  to  me,  they  will  be 

Isaiah  xviii.  p.  16.  See  also  p.  14.)  His  Lordship  might  have  added,  with 
Mr.  Mede,  on  the  aulhonty  of  Dan.  xii.  6,  7,  tliat  the  time  of  their  restora- 
tion is  likewise  deiiued  to  be  the  season  at  the  expiration  of  the  \2(>0  years. 

As  1  shall  have  frequent  occasion,  in  the  course  of  the  present  work,  to 
mention  the  second  advent  of  Christ,  it  may  not  be  amiss  briefly  to  state  what 
I  understand  by  it. 

The  second  adient  of  Christ  is  commonly  spoken  of,  from  tlie  pulpit  and  in 
ordinary  conversation,  as  the  time  %vhen  our  Lord  ivill  come  to  judge  both  the 
quick  and  the  dead,  and  to  assign  to  all  their  everlasting  portion  either  (f  happi- 
ness or  inisery.  This  notion  of  it  is  not  perfectly  correct.  The  second  ad- 
vent includes  indeed  the  fnal  destination  of  the  whole  race  of  mankind  ;  but 
it  includes  likewise  much  more,  commencing'  long  before  that  time  which  we 
are  vfonifamiliarly  to  call  the  day  of  j-udgment.  In  fact,  the  great  day  of  judg- 
tiient  suichronizcs  with  the  ivhole  period  of  the  second  advent,  comprehending 
at  once  the  fnal  destination  of  mankind  and  inany  other  antecedent  particulars. 
It  is  necessary  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  this  point  ;  otherwise,  when  it  is  said 
that  the  yexvs  will  be  restored  at  the  era  of  the  second  advent,  the  reader 
mig'ht  be  in  danger  of  imagining  that  they  would  not  be  restored  till  that  era 
which  IS  faviiliarly  called  the  day  of  judgment,  that  is  to  say,  the  fnal  corisuin- 
ination  of  all  things  :  whereas,  after  their  restoration  and  coinersion,  they 
are  to  fli.urish  in  their  own  land  during  the  space  of  at  least  lOOOjert/vy. 

Mr.  .Mede  has  treated  this  subject  so  well,  that  1  cannot  do  better  thaft 
avail  myself  of  his  remarks. 

"  When  Daniel's  tiines  are  done,  the  Son  of  man  comes  In  the  clouds  of 
heaven,  to  receive  the  empire  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.    Dan.  vii.  14. 

"  When  St.  Luke's  times  of  the  Gentiles  are  finished,  then  shall  be  signs  in 
the  sun  and  moon  ;  the  Son  of  man  comes  also  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  the 
redemption  of  Israel  and  the  kingdom  of  God  are  at  hand.  Luke  xxi.  27, 
28,31.- 

"  The  first  coming  of  Christ  was  to  be  while  the  fourth  kingdom  was  yet  in 
being  ;  the  second,  when  it  should  end."     Works,  B.  iv.  Epist.  8.  p.  744,  745. 

♦'  The  times  of  the  Gentiles  ai'e  Uiat  last  period  of  the  fourth  kingdom  pro- 
phesied of,  a  time  times  and  half  a  time  ;  at  the  end  whereof  the  angel 
swears  imto  Daniel  (Chap.  xii.  7.)  that  God  should  accoviplish  to  scatter  the 
foiver  of  the  holy  people.  This  is  that  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,  w^hich  being 
come,  St.  Paul  tells  us,  The  deliverer  shall  come  out  of  Zion,  and  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved."     Works,  B.  in.  Treatise  on  Daniel's  Weeks,  p.  709. 

"  'Hie  mother  text  of  Scripture,  whence  the  Church  of  the  yews  grounded 
the  name  and  expectation  of  the  great  day  of  judgment,  with  the  circumstances 
thereto  belonging,  and  whereunto  almost  all  the  descriptions  and  expressions 
thereof  in  the  New  Testament  have  reference,  is  that  vision  in  the  seventh  of 
Daniel  of  a  session  of  judgment  wlicn  the  fourth  beast  came  to  be  destroyed  : 
where  this  great  Assises  is  represented  after  the  manner  of  the  great  Syne- 
drion  or  consistoiy  of  Israel  ;  wherein  the  pater  judicii  had  his  assessores,  sit- 
ting upon  seats  placed  semi-circle  wise  before  him  from  his  right  hand  to  his 
left.  I  beheld  (saitli  Daniel  Chap.  vii.  9.)  till  the  thrones  or  seats  were  pitched 
down  (nameh-  for  the  senators  to  sit  upon,  not  thrown  down,  as  we  of  late  have 
it),  and  the  Ancient  of  days  (pater  consistorii)  did  sit-  And  I  beheld,  till  the  judg- 
ment was  set  (that  is,  the  whole  Sanhedrim,)  and  the  books  were  opened. 

"  Here  we  see  both  the  form  of  judgment  delineated,  and  the  name  of 
judgment  expressed  ;  which  is  afterwards  yet  twice  more  repeated  .  first, 
in  the  amplification  of  the  tyranny  of  the  wicked  horn  (Ver.  21,  22.),  which  (is 


13 

previously  converted ;  aiid  Christ  will  be  revealed,  not  to 
turn  them  to  the  faith,  but  to  execute' judgment  upon  his 
enemies,  "  I  incline  to  think,"  says  he,  "  that  they  shall 
be  called  by  vision  and  voice  from  heaven,  as  St.  Paul 
was  ;  and  that  that  place  of  Zechariah  They  shall  see  hhn 
•whom  they  have  pierced^  and  that  of  Matthew   Ye  shall 

said)  continued  till  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  and  jfudgment  luas  given  to  the 
saints  of  the  most  High,  \.  e.  potestas  judicandi  ipsis  facta  ,-  and  the  tiiird  time 
in  the  angel's  interpretation  (Ver.  26.).  £ut  the  jfudgment  shall  sit,  and  they 
shall  take  arvay  his  dominion  to  consume  and  destroy  it  to  the  end.  Where,  ob- 
serve also,  that  cases  of  dominion,  of  blasphemy,  and  apostacy,  and  the  like, 
belonged  to  thejurisdictionof  the  great  Sanhedrim. 

"  From  this  description  it  came,  that  the  jfevjs  gave  it  tlie  name  of  the  day 
of  judgment  and  the  day  of  the  great  judgment  ;  whence,  in  the  epistle  of  St. 
Jude   (Ver.  6.),  it  is  called  the  judgm^ent  of  the  great  day. 

"  From  the  same  description  they  learned,  that  the  destruction  then  to  be 
should  be  by  fire,  because  it  is  said  (Ver.  9.)  His  throne  ivas  a  fiery  flame, 
and  his  Viheels  burning  fire  ;  and  (Ver.  11.)  The  beast  ivas  slain,  and  his  body 
destroyed  and  given  to  the  burning  flam^e . 

"  From  tile  same  fountain  are  derived  those  expressions  in  tlie  Gospelj 
where  this  day  is  intimated  or  described  ;  Tlie  Son  of  inan  shall  come  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  ;  The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  ivith  hi^ 
holy  angels:  forasmuch  as  it  said  here,  Thousand  thousands  viinistersd  unto 
him;  and  that  Daniel  saw  One  like  the  Son  of  man  coming  ivith  the  clouds 
tf  heaven,  and  he  caine  to  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  they  brought  him  yiear  him. 

"  Hence  St.  Paul  learned,  that  the  saints  should  judge  the  %\>orld,  because  it 
is  said  that  maJiy  thrones  ivere  set,  and  (Ver,  22.)  by  way  of  exposition,  tliat 
judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  cfthe  Must  High. 

"  Hence  the  same  apostle  learned  to  confute  the  false  fear  of  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  that  the  day  of  Christ's  second  coining  was  then  at  hand  :  because  that 
day  could  not  be  till  the  man  cf  sin  were  first  come,  and  should  Iiave  reigned 
liis  time  appointed  :  forasmuch  as  Daniel  had  foretold  it  should  be  so,  and 
that  his  destruction  should  be  at  the  Son  of  man's  appearing  in  the  clouds  ; 
whose  appearing  therefore  was  not  to  be  till  then.  This  is  sTrKpxveia  nji; 
Tx^aa-ioii  civla  in  St.  Paul :  luhom  the  Lord  (saith  he)  shall  destroy  at  the 
£7n<poe.veiri  of  his  coming.  Daniel's  micked  horn  is  St.  Paul's  man  of  sin,  as  the 
Church  from  her  infancy  interpreted  it. 

•'  But  to  go  on  :  wliile  this  judgment  sits,  and  when  it  had  destroyed  thf 
fourth  beast,  the  Son  of  man  which  comes  in  tlie  clouds  receives  dominion, 
and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should  serve 
and  obey  him  (Ver.  14.)  ;  which  kingdom  is  tlirice  exjilained  afterwards  to  be 
the  kingdoon  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  Ver.  18,  22,  27. 

"  These  grounds  being  laid,  1  argue  as  followeth  : 

•'  Tlie  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  man  and  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  in 
Daniel  begins  when  the  great  judgment  sits. 

"  The  kingdom  in  the  Apocalypse,  wlierein  tlie  saints  reign  with  Christ  a 
thousand  years,  is  the  same  with  tlie  kingdom  of  tlie  Son  of  man  and  saints 
of  the  Most  High  in  Daniel. 

"  Ergo,  It  also  begins  at  the  great  judgment. 

"  That  the  kingdom  in  Daniel  and  that  of  a  thousand  years  in  tlie  Apoca- 
lypse are  one  and  the  same  kingdom,  nppears  thus  : 

"  First,  because  they  begin  ab  eodetn  termJno,  namely,  at  the  destruction 
of  the  fourth  beast :  that  in  Daniel,  when  the  beast  (then  ruling  in  the  ivicked 
horn  J  was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed  and  given  to  the  burning  flame 
(Dan.  vii.  11,  22,  27.)  :  that  in  the  Apocalypse,  Vhen  the  ixast  and  the  false 


14 

not  see  me  henceforth  till  you  say,  Blessed  is  he  that 
coineth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord*,  seems  to  imply  some 
such  matter.  Thev  will  never  believe  that  Christ  reigns 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  until  they  see  him.  It  must 
be  an  invincible  evidence  which  must  convert  them,  after 
so  many  hundred  years  settled  obstinacy.  But  this  I 
speak  of  the  body  of  the  nation  ;  there  may  be  some  Pra- 
ludia  of  some  particulars  converted  upon  other  motives, 
as  a  forerunner  of  the  great  and  main  conversion!." 
To  this  opinion  of  Mr.  Mede  it  was  objected  by  Dr. 
Twisse,  hoxv  such  a  vision  could  be  manifested  to  the 
Jews  dispersed  in  several  parts  of  the  xvorld.  The  answer 
was,  that  a  vision  or  apparition  in  heaven  may  be  seen  by 
the  greatest  part  of  the  xvorld  at  the  same  time,  as  stars 

prophet  fthe  voided  horn  in  Daniel)  were  taken,  and  both  cast  alive  into  a  lake 
burning  with  brimstone.   Rev.  xix.  20,  21. 

"  Secondly,  Because  St.  John  begins  the  regninn  of  a  tliousand  years  from 
the  same  session  of  judgment  described  in  Daniel ;  as  ajjpears  by  his  parallel 
expression  borrowed  from  thence. 


"  Daniel  says,  Cl):ip.  vii. 

"  9.  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  ivere 
pitched  down — and  the  judgment  (i.e. 
judges)  sat. 

"  22.  And  judgment  was  given  to  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High. 

"  And  the  saints  possessed  the  king- 
dom,;  viz.  with  til e  Son  of  man  who 
came  in  the  clouds. 


St.  .Tolin  says.  Chap.  xx. 
4.  /  saiv  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon 
them. 

And  judgment  %u as  given  unto  them. 

And  the  saints  lived  and  reigned  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years. 


"  Now,  if  this  be  sufficiently  proved,  that  the  tliousand  years  begin  with 
the  day  of  judgment,  it  will  appear  further  out  of  the  Apocalyjise,  that  tlie 
judgment  is  not  consunimate  till  they  be  ended  ;  for  Gog  and  Magog's  des- 
truction and  the  universal  resurrection  is  not  till  then  :  therefore  the  whole 
thousand  \ears  is  included  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

"  Hence  it  will  follow,  that,  whatsoever  Scripture  speaks  of  a  kingdom  of 
Christ  to  be  at  his  second  appearing  or  at  the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  it  must 
needs  be  the  same  which  Daniel  saw  should  be  at  that  time,  and  so  conse- 
quently be  the  kingdom  of  a  thousand  years  which  the  Apocalypse  includes 
between  the  beginning  and  consummation  of  the  great  judgment."  Mede's 
Works,  B.  iv.  Epist.  15.  p.  762,  763. 

In  short,  the  whole  matter  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows.  The  day  of 
Chrisfs  second  advent  or  the  great  day  of  judgment  commences  at  the  close  of 
the  V260 years,  when  the  vengeance  of  God  begins  to  go  forth  against  the 
Antichristian  faction  ;  extends  through  the  period  of  tiie  Millennium  ;  and  ter- 
minates with  the  final  destination  of  all  mankind  either  to  everlasting  hajjpi- 
ness  or  everlasting  misery.  Hence  this  day  of  the  second  advent  comprehends 
two  manifestations  of  the  Messiah  ;  the  one  previous  to  the  Millennium  for 
the  destruction  of  ^?!f/cAr/«t,  the  other  «!/Z'se(7i/e';;f  to  the  Millennium  for  the 
universal  judgment  both  of  quick  and  dead.  The  first  of  these  manifestations 
is  predicted  in  Dan.  vii.  9,  10,  11,  18,  22,26,  27.  and  Rev.  xix.  11— 21.  the 
second  is  predicted  in  Rev.  xx  11 — 15. 

*  Zechar.  xii.  10.     Matt,   xxiii.  39 

t  Mede's  Works,  B.  iv.  Epist.  xiv.  P.  761. 


15 

and  comets  are  :  how  else  shall  the  appearing  of  our  Sa- 
viour in  the  clouds  of  heaven.,  at  his  coming  to  judgment^ 
he  seen  at  once  by  so  many  nations  of  the  world?  Mr. 
Mede  adds,  "  Howsoever  it  be,  I  suppose  it  is  no  sin  to 
conceive  magnificence  and  Tr^sTrovlui  of  so  great  a  work  of 
God  towards  a  people  for  M'hom  he  hath  formerly  shewn 
so  many  wonders ;  especially  this  being  to  be  the  gi'eatest 
work  of  mercy  and  wonder  that  ever  he  did  for  them,  far 
beyond  the  bringing  them  forth  of  Egypt,  and  leading  them 
in  the  wilderness*."  And,  in  another  part  of  his  works, 
he  draws  a  comparison  betVv^een  St.  Patd's  conversion  and 
the  calling  of  the  Jews ^  supposing  the  one  to  be  a  kind  of 
type  of  the  other f. 

iVIy  objection  to  Mr.  Mede's  opinion,  in  the  manner 
in  which  he  has  stated  it,  is  neither  its  improbability  nor 
its  impossibility  abstractedly  considered  ;  but  simply  that 
it  cannot  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  general  tenor 
of  the  prophecies  which  treat  of  the  restoration  and  con- 
version of  the  Jews.  It  is  expressly  declared  by  Zecha- 
riah,  that  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  manifested  in  the 
midst  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  that,  after  such  manifestatioji, 
Jehovah  sent  by  Jehovah  shall  go  forth  and  execute  judg- 
ment upon  his  enemies.  All  the  other  prophets  agree 
in  attesting  the  same  ;  that,  whenever  the  Word  of  God 
is  revealed,  it  shall  be  to  pour  destruction  upon  the  rebel 
army  of  Antichrist.  This  glory  will  most  probably  be  the 
same  as  the  Shechinah  that  attended  the  children  of  Israel 
out  of  Egypt :  a  vast  pillar  of  light,  shooting  up  to  an  im- 
mense height  in  the  air  so  as  to  be  visible  at  a  very  great 
distance,  and  surmounted  by  a  cloud  ;  thus  causing  Je- 
rusalem to  appear,  as  if  encompassed  and  covered  with 
fire.  Now,  if  such  a  tremendous  vision  as  this  continu- 
ed to  hover  over  Jerusalem  (for  that  is  the  place  assigned 
by  the  prophet  for  its  appearance)  ;  and  if  the  end  of  its 
manifestation  were  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  scattered 
Jervs,  and  to  effect  their  conversion,  as  Mr.  Mede  sup- 
poses :  it  is  incredible,  that  Antichrist  would  ever  dare  to 
undertake  such  an  expedition,  as  it  is  foretold  that  he 
^hall  imdertake.     Or,  granting  the  utmost  that  ca?i  be 

*  MecTe's  Works,  B.  iv.  Epist.  xvli.  P.  767. 
t  Mede's  "^^'ol■ks,  K,  v.  C.  2.  p.  891, 


1,6 

granted  to  daring  impiety  ;  granting  that  Antichrist  might 
harden  his  heart  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  Palestine,  as 
Pharaoh  did  to  seek  the  destruction  of  Israel  at  the  Red 
sea,  notwithstanding  the  fieiy  portent,  increasing  in  ap- 
parent magnitude  as  he  approached  towards  it,  glared  full 
before  his  eves  :  yet  we  can  sccircely  believe,  that  he 
would  be  able  to  effect  the  conquest  of  all  Palestine,  to 
bestow  Jerusalem  upon  a  band  of  unconverted  Jeivs,  to 
subdue  Egypt,  to  return  from  thence  in  his  fuiy,  and  to 
sack  Jerusalem  ;  if  the  glory  of  the  Lord  were  all  this 
time  in  the  midst  of  the  city.  Yet  such  must  necessari- 
ly be  our  conclusion,  if  we  adopt  unreservedly  Mr.  Mede's 
opinion  :  for  we  are  expressly  told,  that  a  part  of  the 
Jews  shall  be  converted  in  Jerusalem,  and  that  Jerusa- 
lem ^hall  be  sacked  while  in  their  possession.  Of  the 
two  texts,  which  he  cites  from  Zechaiuah  and  St.  Mat- 
thew, the  one  seems  to  me  by  no  means  to  prove  his  point, 
and  the  other  to  prove  the  direct  contrary.  I  cannot 
think,  that  ^ve  ha"\"e  any  warrant  to  suppose  that  the  JewSy 
restored  by  Antichrist^  will  at  the  time  of  their  conver- 
sion look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced  any  other- 
wise than  spiritually,  because  their  conversion  precedes 
the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  ;  whereas  the  manifestation  of 
the  Lord  succeeds  it,  and  immediately  precedes  the  de- 
struction of  Antichrist.  Then  indeed  they  will  literalhj 
look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,  but  not  till  then. 
And  this  opinion  is  decidedly  confirmed  by  the  other 
text,  which  proves  the  very  reverse  of  what  Mr.  Mede 
intended  that  it  should  prove.  Our  Lord  assures  the 
Jeivs,  that  they  shall  7iot  see  him,  until  they  say,  Blessed 
is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Whence  it  is 
manifest,  that  they  must^;*^^  say.  Blessed  is  he  that  com- 
eth in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  aftei'wards  behold  him, 
whom  they  have  so  long  rejected.  This  is  precisely 
what  I  have  supposed  that  they  will  do  :  whereas  Mr. 
Mede  exactly  in\erts  the  particulars  of  the  text  ;  and  ar- 
gues, that  the  Jews  will^r^^  see  the  Messiah,  and  after- 
ivards  acknowledge  him*. 

*  ^Ir.  Lovvth  supposes,  like  ilr.  Mede,  that  the  Jcks  will  be  converted  in 
consequence  of  a  supernatural  manifestation  of  Christ.  See  his  Comment,  on 
Zech.  xii.  10. 


17 

On  the  whole  I  think  it  clear,  that  the  revelation  of 
God's  glory  over  Jerusalem,  will  at  once  ^wccee J  the  con- 
version and  restoration  of  Judah^  the  whole  expedition  of 
Antichristy  and  the  sacking  of  the  city  ;  that  it  will  sud- 
denly take  place,  when  the  confederacy  has  reached  the 
valley  of  Megiddo,  and  is  on  the  point  of  over^v  helming 
the  troops  of  the  maritime  nation  and  the  converted  Jews 
under  its  protection  ;  and  that,  immediately  after  it  has 
taken  place,  the  Word  of  God,  issuing  from  the  bright- 
ness of  the  Sheehinah  with  all  the  armies  of  heaven,  will 
descend  ^vith  irresistible  violence  on  his  irreclaimable 
enemies,  and  thus  stupendously  conclude  the  great  apos- 
tatical  drama  of  1260  years. 

Since  the  Jexvs  are  to  be  restored  in  the  midst  of  war 
and  bloodshed,  or,  as  Daniel  expresses  it,  during  a  time- 
of  trouble  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation^  we 
may  reasonably  suppose  that  gi-eat  numbers  of  them  will 
perish.  Accordingly  we  find,  that  their  return  from  the 
countries  of  their  dispersion  is  expressly  compared  by 
Ezekiel  to  their  ancient  exodus  from  Egypt.  As  God 
pleaded  with  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  ;  so  will  he  likewise  plead  with  them,  causing 
them  to  pass  under  the  rod,  and  purging  out  from  among 
them  the  rebels.  It  is  probable  indeed,  that  only  a  small 
part  of  the  first  generation  of  those  that  are  restored  will 
quietly  sit  down  under  their  own  vines  and  under  their 
own  fig-trees.  One  whole  generation  of  the  Israelites, 
that  were  brought  out  of  Egypt,  perished  in  the^  course 
of  forty  year's  in  the  w  ilderness  :  and  there  is  reason  to 
think,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  that  the  conversioji  and 
restoration  ofJudah^  and  the  expedition  and  destruction  of 
Antichrist,  will  occupy  a  periocl  of  not  less  than  30  years> 
•  The  swift  messengers  of  the  great  maritime  power  will 
begin  the  work  of  converting  the  Jews,  that  is  to  say  such 
Jews  as  are  scattered  through  the  countries  subject  to  their 
influence  :  Antichris  vneanwhile  will  collect  the  uncon- 
verted Jews  from  those  parts  of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles, 
or  the  regions  of  Europe-^,  which  are  under  his  immedi- 

*  By  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  the  Jews  understood  all  those  countries  which 
they  could  not  reach  fronn  Palestine  except  by  sea.  Hence  the  name  was  given 
to  Europe  in  contradistinction  to  Asia,  which  to  them  was  strictly  continen- 
tal.    See  Mede's  Works,  P.  272.  aiid  Mr.  Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xi,  IL 


18 

ate  control,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  them  back  in 
an  mibelie-s  ing  state  to  their  own  country  :  but  whether 
he^  or  whether  the  7naj'iti?ne  poxvei',  will  absolutely  begin 
the  work  of  restoring  the  ancient  people  of  God,  cannot, 
I  think,  be  certainly  gathered  from  Scripture*.  His  plan 
will  be  a  plan  of  pure  Machiavelian  policy  :  and  consi- 
dering the  frailty  of  human  nature,  it  is  much  to  be  feai'- 
cd  that  the  plan  of  the  maritime  power ^  strenuously  as 
that  power  will  exert  itself  in  converting  no  less  than  in 
collecting  the  Jews,  will  be  somewhat  alloyed  by  worldly 
motives,  and  will  not  be  adopted  simply  from  a  desire  to 
promote  the  glory  of  God.  Most  probably  politics  will 
have  taken  such  a  turn  at  that  eventful  period,  as  to  make 
it  seem  to  be  the  interest  of  both  those  great  powers  to 
attempt  the  restoration  of  the  Jews.  At  this  time,  namely 
at  the  close  of  the  1260  years^  and  when  the  last  vial 
begins  to  be  poured  out,  Europe  will  be  agitated  by  the 
storms  of  wai\  The  symbolical  earthquake  of  some  ex- 
tensive political  convulsion  will  divide  the  great  city^  or 
the  Roman  empire,  into  three  parts ;  and  the  cities,  or 
kingdoms,  of  the  nations  will  fall,  when  the  mystic  Baby- 
lon is  now^  about  to  come  in  remembrance  before  God  to 
give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his 
wrath.  The  division  of  the  great  city  into  three  parts 
seems  to  denote  a  triple  division  of  the  federal  empire  of 
Antichrist^  not  improbably  made  in  imitation  of  the  three 
prefectures  of  the  ancient  Roman  empire  ;  for  Zechariah 
iTientions  three  such  parts  as  being  engaged  in  the  last 

*  That  the  maritime  pother,  mystically  termed  by  Isaiah  the  ships  rf  Tar- 
shish,  will  be  the  Jirst,  ov  (as  the  original  expression  is  rendered  by  tlie  lxx. 
and  in  tlie  Latin  translation  of  the  Arabic  version)  among  the  Jirst,  to  attempt 
the  co7iversio)i  of  tlie  Jews  ;  and  that  they  will  after-\\iards  bring-  back  to  Pales- 
tine sucli  as  shall  be  converted  by  their  instrumentality,  seems  to  be  revealed 
with  svifficient  plainness  :  but  it  is  no  where,  I  believe,  positively  declared, 
that  they  shall  beg-inthe  wov^oi restoring  the  Jews.  Since /larf  cf  them  are 
to  be  brought  back  by  Antichrist  in  an  itnconverted  state,  a.nd  part  by  the  mari- 
time poii-er  in  a  converted  state,  it  certainly  is  possible  that  Antichrist  may  be- 
gin to  restore  the  one  division  previous  to  the  restoration  or  even  the  conversion 
of  the  other  division.  Most  probably  howeverthe  two  events  will  be  nearly, 
if  not  altogether,  contemporary.  The  ])rophecy  contained  in  Isaiah  Ix.  8,  9, 
relates  solely  to  the  restoration  of  the  converted  j^eivs,  because  they  are  declar- 
ed to  be  brought  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  we  are  taught  that  the 
ships  of  Tarshish  shall  be  among  the  first  to  imdertake  this  great  entcr- 
prize. 


19 

war  in  Palestine  *.  In  the  midst  of  these  wars  and  revo- 
lutions,  Antichrist  will  begin  his  grand  expedition  for  the 
purpose  of  conquering  Egypt  and  the  Holy  land,  and  of 
restoring  his  vassal  allies  the  wicoiwerted  Jews.  Uni- 
formly successful  in  the  beginning  of  his  project,  he  will 
apparently  reach  the  place  of  his  destination  and  fix  the 
apostate  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  before  the  maritime  power 
shall  have  been  able  to  convert,  to  collect,  and  to  bring  by 
sea  to  their  o^vn  land,  the  other  great  body  of  the  Jews  ; 
although  that  power  is  represented  as  being  foremost  in 
the  work  of  converting  certain  members  of  Judah,  and  as 
afterwards  restoring  them  when  they  have  been  so  con- 
verted. Thus  doubly  brought  back  by  two  mighty  con- 
tending nations,  and  thus  plunged  into  the  midst  of  perils 
and  of  war  during  the  space  oi  thirty  years  (for  so  long  a 
period  will  probably  intervene  between  the  first  effusion 
of  the  seventh  vial  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years  when 
they  begin  to  be  restored,  and  the  destruction  of  Antichrist 
at  Megiddo),  the  Jews  must  inevitably  suffer  many  cala- 
mities ;  and  we  are  taught  accordingly  by  Ezekiel,  that 
such  will  assuredly  be  the  case.  The  whole  of  this  is 
perfectly  consonant  with  the  ordinary  course  of  the  divine 
justice.  National  wickedness  can  only  be  national!}^  pun- 
ished :  and  the  long  impenitence  of  the  Jewish  people 
will  not  at  the  last,  even  during  the  very  time  of  their 
restoration,  be  either  overlooked  or  uru-equited. 

When  the  army  of  Antichrist  is  miraculously  over- 
thrown, the  Lord,  who  forgetteth  not  mercy  even  in  the 
midst  of  judgment,  will  not  make  an  entire  end ;  but  will 
spare  some  of  the  least  guilty  of  his  enemies,  reserving 
them  for  the  noblest  purposes.  Zechariah  teaches  us, 
that  even  so  much  as  a  third  part  shall  be  spared.  These 
may  be  supposed  to  be  less  hardened  in  wickedness  than 
their  associates ;  and  to  have  engaged  in  the  expedition, 
either  through  the  inveterate  prejudices  of  a  Popish  edu- 
cation (the  expedition  having  been  blessed  and  sanctified 
by  the  false  prophet  J ,  or  through  the  tyrannical  compul- 
sion which  we  have  already  beheld  Antichristiaii  France 

*  I  of  course  wish  this  to  be  understood  as  a  mere  conjecture.  It  is  very 
possible,  that  the  three  parts  engaged  in  the  Antkhristian  war  may  have  no  con- 
Hection  with  the  three  divisions  of  the  great  city. 


20 

begin  to  exercise  over  her  degraded  federal  allies.  Nor 
will  they  only  be  spared ".  plucked  as  brands  out  of  the 
burning,  they  will  likewise  be  converted  by  the  mercy  of 
God  to  a  zealous  profession  of  genuine  Christianity. 
When  two  parts  are  cut  olf,  and  die,  in  all  the  land ;  the 
third  part  shall  be  left  therein.  And  the  Lord  will  bring 
the  third  part  through  the  fire,  and  \viU  refine  them  as 
silver  is  refined,  and  will  try  them  as  gold  is  tried.  They 
shall  call  on  his  name,  and  he  will  hear  them.  He  will 
say,  It  is  my  people :  and  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my 
God. 

Thus  wonderfully  preserved  and  converted,  they  will 
become  proper  instruments  to  accomplish  the  yet  unful- 
filled purposes  of  the  Most  High.  Scattered  over  the 
face  of  the  whole  earth,  they  will  cany  every  where  the 
tidings  of  their  own  defeat,  of  the  marvellous  power  of 
the  Lord,  and  of  the  restoration  of  Judah.  Meanwhile  we 
may  suppose  the  awful  apparition  of  the  Shechinah  still 
to  remain  suspended  over  Jerusalem,  visible  from  its  stu- 
pendous height  to  an  immense  distance,  and  bearing  am- 
ple attestation  to  the  veracity  of  the  fugitives  *.  Nor  will 
they  carry  their  message  in  vain.  Judah  is  indeed  restored : 
but  the  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel  are  still  dispersed  through 
the  extensive  regions  of  the  Nortli  and  of  the  East.  These, 
according  to  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  however  they 
may  be  now  concealed  from  mortal  knowledge,  will  be 
found  again,  and  will  be  brought  back  into  the  country 
of  their  fathers.  All  nations,  and  all  tongues,  shall  come 
and  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord ;  for  he  will  set  among 
them  a  sign,  even  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  sign 
of  the  illuminated  Shechinah  ;  and  will  send  unto  them 
those  that  have  escaped  from  the  slaughter  of  the  Anti- 
christian  confederacy^  that  they  may  declare  his  glory 
among  the  nations.  Convinced  by  ocular  demonstration 
that  God  doth  indeed  reign  in  Zion,  and  at  once  divinely 
impelled  and  enabled  both  to  seek  out  from  among  them 
and  to  find  the  long-lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  they 

*  I  apprehend  it  was  from  passages  of  this  import,  that  Mr.  Mede  suppos- 
ed that  the  yeivs  would  be  converted  by  a  supernatural  manifestation  of 
Christ.  Had  he  said  the  ten  tribes,  instead  of  the  Javs,  I  believe  hc  would 
liave  approached  very  near  to  the  truth. 


21 

Avill  bring  by  land,  in  vast  caravans,  all  the  brethren  of 
Jiidah  for  an  offering  unto  the  Lord,  as  the  great  mari- 
time poiver  had  already  brought  the  converted  Jexvs  lor  a 
present  unto  the   Lord  to  his  holy  mountain.      Then 
shall  the  stick  of  Joseph  be  united  for  ever  with  the  stick 
of  Jiidah  :  Ephraim  shall  be  no  more  a  sepai'ate  people  : 
but  the  whole  house  of  Jacob  shall  become  one  nation  un- 
der one  king,  even  the  mystic  David,  Jesus  the  Messiali. 
The  various  prophecies,  which  speak  of  the  restoration 
of  the  ten  tribes y  certainly  cannot  relate  to  the  restoration 
of  those  detached  individuals  out  of  them,  who  returned 
with  Judoh  from  the  Babylonian  captivity.  This  is  mani- 
fest, both  because  their  restoration  is  represented  as  per- 
fectly distinct  from  the  restoration  of  Jiidah ^  and  because 
it  is  placed  at  once  subsequent  to  that  event  and  to  the 
overthrow  of  Antichrist.    In  fact,  the  converted  fugitives 
from  the  army  of  Antichrist  are  described  as  being  great- 
ly instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  restoration  of  the 
ten  tjibes.     Hence  their  restoration   is  plainly  future : 
and  hence  Ave  cannot,  with  any  degree  of  consistency, 
apply  the  predictions  vdiich  foretell  it  to  the  return  of  a 
few  individuals  from  Babylon  with  Judah.     "  It  is  sur- 
prizing," says  Bp.  Horsley,  Avhen  treating  of  one  out  of 
the  many  prophecies,  that  explicitly  declare  the  future 
restoration  and  union  both  of  Judah  and  Is7'ael'^  ;    "  It  is 
surprizing,  that  the  return  of  Judah  from  the  Babylonian 
captivity  should  ever  have  been  considered,  by  any  Chris- 
tian divine,  as  the  principal  object  of  this  prophecy,  and 
an  event  in  which  it  has  received  its  full  accomplishment. 
It  was  indeed  considered  as  an  inchoate  accomplishment, 
but  not  more  than  inchoate,  by  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria. 
The  expositors  of  antiquity,  in  such  cases,  were  too  apt 

*  Hoseai.  10,  11.  "Nevertheless  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  measured,  and  cannot  be 
counted  ;  and  it  shall  be,  that,  in  the  place  wliere  it  was  said  unto  them.  No 
people  of  mine  are  ye,  tliere'it  shall  be  said  unto  them.  Children  of  the  living- 
God.  And  the  children  of  Judah  shall  be  collected,  and  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  be  united,  and  they  shall  appoint  themselves  one  head,  and 
come  up  from  the  earth.  For  great  shall  be  the  day  of  Jezrael" — That  is  to 
say,  as  Bp.  Horsley  remarks  very  justly,  "  Great  and  happy  shall  be  the 
day,  when  the  holy  seed  of  both  branches  of  the  natural  Israel  shall  be  pub- 
lickly  acknowledged  of  their  God  ;  united  under  one  head,  their  king  Mes- 
siah ;  and  restored  to  the  possession  of  the  promised  land,  anVl  to  a  situation 
of  high  pre-eminence  among  the  nations  of  the  earth." 


22 

to  take  up  with  some  circumstances  of  general  resem- 
blance, without  any  critical  examination  of  the  terms  of 
a  prophecy,  or  of  the  detail  of  the  historj^  to  which  they 
applied  it.  The  fact  is,  that  this  prophecy  has  no  relation 
to  the  return  from  Babylon  in  a  single  circumstance.  And 
yet  the  absurd  intei'pretation,  which  considers  it  as  ful- 
filled and  finished  in  that  event,  has  of  late  been  adopted- 
But  what  was  the  number  of  the  returned  captives,  that 
it  should  be  compared  to  that  of  the  sands  upon  the  sea- 
shore ?  The  number  of  the  returned,  in  comparison  with 
the  whole  captivity,  was  nothing.  Then  Jiidah  and  Is- 
rael shall  appoint  themselves  one  head — Zorobabel^  says 
Grotius.  But  how  was  Zorobabel  one  head  of  the  rest 
of  Israel,  as  well  as  Judah  ?  A  later  critic  answers,  After 
the  return  from  Babylon,  the  distinction  between  the  king- 
doms of  Israel  and  Judah  ceased.  But  how  was  it,  this 
distinction  ceased  ?  In  this  manner,  I  apprehend,  The 
kingdom  of  Israel  had  been  abolished  above  180  years 
before ;  Judah  alone  existed  as  a  body  politic  ;  and  the 
house  of  Judah  returned  under  their  leader  Zorobabel, 
with  some  few  stragglers  of  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes. 
And  no  sooner  were  the  returning  captives  settled  in  Ju- 
dea,  than  those  of  the  ten  tribes,  joining  with  the  mon- 
grel race  w^hich  they  found  in  Samaria,  separated  them- 
selves from  Judaic  and  set  up  a  leader  and  a  schismatical 
worship  of  their  own.  Was  this  any  such  incorporation, 
as  the  prophecy  describes,  of  Judah  and  the  rest  of  Israel 
under  one  sovereign  '^  ?  To  interpret  the  prophecy  in  this 
manner  is  to  make  it  little  better  than  a  paltiy  quibble  ; 
more  worthy  of  the  Delphic  tripod,  than  of  the  Scripture 
oftrutlit-"' 

Of  the  Jews,  who  were  carried  away  captive  to  Baby- 
lon, only  a  very  small  part,  according  to  Houbigant  J  not 
more  than  a  hundredth  part,  returned  to  their  own  coun- 
tiy.  Those,  who  were  left  behind,  will  doubtless,  at  the 
time  of  the  second  advent,  be  brought  back  along  with 
their  brethren  of  the  ten  tribes ;  just  as  those  individuals 
of  the  ten  tribes,  who  rettniied  with  Judah  from  Babylon, 

*  This  t-vo-fohi  return  and  incorporation  of  yudah  and  Israelis  yet  more  de- 
finitely predicted  by  Ezekiel  than  bv  Hosea.     See  Ezek.  xxxvii.  15 — 28. 
t  Bp.  Horslev's  Hosea,  p.  59,  60.  i  Cited  by  Bp.  Horsley. 


and  (adhering  to  him  notwidistanding  the  Samaritan 
schism)  were  afterwards  scattered  with  him  by  th^  Ro- 
mans, will  be  brought  back  with  their  brethren  the  Jervs. 
So  far,  but  no  further,  the  otherwise  distinct  restorations 
of  Judah  and  Joseph  will  in  some  measure  be  mingled 
together.  This  circumstance  is  very  accurately  noted  by 
Ezekiel,  even  when  predicting  the  txvo-fold  restoration  of 
Judah  and  Joseph^  and  their  subsequent  union  u^ider  one 
king.  He  speaks  neither  of  Judah  nor  Joseph  simply  ; 
but  styles  the  one  division  Judah  and  the  children  of  Israel 
his  companions^  and  the  other  division  Joseph  and  all  the 
house  of  Israel  his  companions  *  :  thus  plainly  intimating, 
that  some  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  return  with  Judah; 
but  that  members  of  all  the  tribes,  not  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  ten  tribes  only,  but  of  all  the  tribes,  shall  return 
with  Joseph. 

And  here  we  cannot  but  observe  the  strict  justice  of 
God  in  arranging  the  manner  of  this  two-fold  restoration. 
Judah^  with  many  more  advantages  than  Israel,  sinned  nev- 
ertheless yet  deeper  than  he  did.  They  were  both  equally 
guilty  of  idolatry  :  but  Judah^  that  is  to  say,  that  part  of 
Judah  which  returned  from  Babylon,  added  to  all  his  for- 
mer iniquities  the  deep  guilt  of  rejecting  and  crucifying 
the  Lord  of  life.  Hence  we  find,  that,  while  he  is  restor- 
ed, partly  in  a  converted  and  partly  in  an  unconverted 
state,  through  many  wars,  perils  and  afflictions,  and  dur- 
ing a  time  of  unexampled  trouble  :  Israel^  and  his  com- 
panions of  Judah.,  to  whom  the  Saviour  had  never  been 
oflfered,  return  after  the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  wholly 
in  a  converted  state  t,  escorted  honourably  and  joyfully 
by  all  nations,  free  from  all  dangers,  exempt  from  all  dif- 
ficulties, during  the  earliest  dawnings  of  the  peaceful  day 
of  millennian  blessedness. 

It  may  probably  be  asked,  How  can  the  ten  tribes  ever 
be  discovered  and  restored  after  the  lapse  of  so  many 

*  Ezek.  xxxvii.  16. 

\  This  is  manifest  from  Isaiah's  declaration,  that  they  should  be  broiig-ht 
an  offering'  to  the  Lord,  as  the  children  of  Israel  bring'  an  offering-  in  a  clean 
vessel  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.  See  Chap.  Ixvi.  18,  19,  20.  The  Phraseo- 
logy is  perfectly  parallel  to  that  of  the  two  passages,  wherein  the  restoration 
of  the  converted  division  of  Judah,  by  the  great  maritime  po'v.-er^  is  predicted. 
See  Isaiah  xviii.  7.  and  Zephan.  iii.  9,  10, 


24 

centuries,  during  which  they  have  been  completely  lost 
and  mingled  among  the  nations  of  the  east  ?  The  Jews 
indeed  tell  us  many  marvellous  stories  of  their  yet  exist- 
ing as  a  distinct  body  politic  in  a  large  and  spacioi^s 
courttry  with  fine  cities  :  but  no  one  knows  to  this  day, 
Avhere  it  is  situated  *. 

To  such  a  question  it  would  be  sufficient  simply  to 
answer,  /  know  not.     The  restoration  of  the  ten  tribes  is 
expressly  foretold^  and  is  therefore  an  article  of  faith. 
With  the  manner  of  their  discovery  I  presume  not  to 
concern  mysell".    I  know  that  all  things  are  possible  with 
God :  and  therefore  I  know,  that  he,  \\dio  at  the  last  day 
will  collect  our  scattered  members  and  raise  our  long- 
dissolved  bodies  from  the  dust,  can  with  equal  ease  col- 
lect the  scattered  members  of  Israel^  and  disco\'er  them 
however  lost  among  the  nations  whither  they  have  been 
led  away  captive.    Indeed  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  repeatedly  used  by  the  pro- 
phets to  typify  the  political  revival  of  Judah  and  Israel, 
and  by  none  of  them  with  more  minute  particularity  of 
circumstance  than  Ezekiel  :   insomuch  that  1  know  not 
a  better  commentary  upon  the  manner  of  their  disco^■ery 
and  restoration,  than  the  elaborate  parable,  with  which  he 
ushers  in  a  literal  prediction  of  those  wonderful  events  f- 
But  it  is  a  very  remarkable  circumstance,  that,  pre- 
cisely at  the  present  era,  an  era  marked  so  strongly  b}' 
the  signs  of  the  times,  as  to  give  us  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  we  are  living  in  the  predicted  last  days  of  An- 
tichristian  blasphemy,  and  that  the  1260  years  are  rapid- 
ly drawing  near  to  their  termination :  it  is,  I  say,  a  re- 
markable circumstance  that,  at  this  Aery  era,  a  people 
should  begin  to  attract  our  notice  in  the  East  Indies, 
which  appear  to  be  a  fragment  either  of  Me  lost  ten  tribes, 
or  of  the  Jews  that  never  returned  from  the  Babylonian 
captivity.     In  my  former  more  general  work  on  prophe- 
cy, I  thought  it  sufficient  barely  to  mention  this  people  f : 
in  my  present,  which  exclusively  treats  of  the  restoration 

*  See Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vm.  1. 

I  See  Ezek.  xxxvii. 

t  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years,  Vol.  ii.  p.  350.  (2d.  Edit.  p.  387.) 


25 

#/'  Israel  and  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist^  a  more  copi-^ 
ous  account  of  them  will  be  strictly  in  place  *. 

The  late  Mr.  Vansittart  was  the  first,  I  believe,  who 
brought  forward  to  public  notice  the  traditions  of  the' 

*  I  have  read  a  work  entitled.  The  History  of  the  American  Indians,  by 
yames  Adair,  Esq.  a  trader  ivith  the  Indians,  and  resident  in  the  country  for  4Q 
years,  which,  if  it  be  authentic,  is  singularly  curious  and  interesting  ;  but  I 
know  not  what  degree  of  credit  it  bears,  or  how  far  his  account  is  confirmed 
by  those  of  other  travellers  and  residents. 

"  From  the  most  exact  observation,"  says  he,  *'  that  I  could  make  in  the 
long  time  I  traded  among  the  Indian  Americans,  I  was  forced  to  believe  them 
lineally  descended  from  the  Israelites,  either  while  they  were  a  maritime 
power,  or  soon  after  the  general  captivity  ;  the  latter  however  is  the  most 
probable — Had  the  nine  tribes  and  a  half  of  Israel,  which  were  carried  oft" 
by  Shalmaneser  king  of  Assyria  and  settled  in  Media,  continued  there  long  ; 
it  is  very  probable,  by  intermarrying  with  the  natives  and  from  their  natural 
fickleness  and  proneness  to  idolatry  and  the  force  of  example,  that  they 
would  have  adopted  and  bowed  before  the  Gods  of  the  Medes  and  Assyri- 
ans, and  have  carried  them  along  with  them  :  but  there  is  not  a  trace  of  this 
idolatry  among  the  Indians."  Hence  he  argues,  that  those  of  the  ten  tribes, 
who  were  the  forefathers  of  the  Americans,  soon  advanced  eastward  from 
Assyria,  and  reached  theu-  settlements  in  the  new  continent  before  the  des- 
truction of  the  first  temple. 

In  proof  of  the  Americans  being  thus  descended,  he  adduces  the  following 
arguments.  1.  Their  division  into  tribes.  2.  Their  worship  of  Jehovah. 
3.  Their  notions  of  a  theocracy.  4.  Their  belief  in  the  ministration  of  an- 
gels. 5.  Their  language  and  dialects.  6.  Their  manner  of  counting  time. 
7.  Their  prophets  and  high-priests.  8.  Their  festivals,  fasts,  and  religi- 
ous rites.  9.  Their  daily  sacrifice.  10.  Their  ablutions,  and  anointings. 
11.  Their  laws  of  uncleanness.  12.  Their  abstinence  from  unclean  things. 
13.  Their  marriages,  divorces,  and  punishment  of  adultery.  14.  Their  several 
punishments.  15.  Their  cities  of  refuge.  16.  Their  purifications,  and  cere- 
monies preparatory.  17.  Their  ornaments.  18.  Their  manner  of  curing  the 
sick.  19.  Their  burial  of  their  dead.  20.  Their  mourning  for  their  dead. 
21.  Their  raising  seed  to  a  deceased  brother.  22.  Their  choice  of  names 
adapted  to  their  circumstances  and  the  times.  23.  Tlieir  own  traditions  ;  the 
accounts  of  our  English  writers  ;  and  the  testimonies,  which  the  Spanish  and 
other  writers  have  given  concerning  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Peru  and 
Mexico. 

A  few  extracts  from  what  is  said  under  these  different  heads  may  not  be 
unacceptable. 

1.  "As  the  nation  hath  its  particular  symbol ;  so  each  tribe,  the  badge 
from  which  it  is  denominated.  The  Sachem  of  each  tribe  is  a  necessary  par- 
ty in  conveyances  and  treaties,  to  which  he  affixes  the  mark  of  his  tribe.  If 
we  go  from  nation  to  nation  among  them,  we  shall  not  find  one,  who  doth  not 
lineally  distinguish  himself  by  his  respective  family.  The  genealogical  names, 
which  they  assume,  are  derived  either  from  the  names  of  those  animals 
whereof  the  Cherubim  are  said  in  revelation  to  be  compounded,  or  from  such 
creatures  as  are  mostfimiliar  to  them.  The  Indians  however  bear  no  religi- 
ous respect  to  the  animals  from  whence  they  derive  their  name  :  on  tlie  con- 
trary, they  kill  them  when  opportunity  serves.  When  we  consider  that  these 
savages  have  been  above  twenty  centuries  without  the  use  of  letters  to  carry 
down  their  traditions,  it  cannot  reasonably  be  expected,  that  they  should 
still  retain  the  identical  names  of  their  primogenial  tribes  :  their  main  cus- 
toms corresponding  with  those  of  the  Israelites  sufficiently  clears  the  subject. 
Besides,  as  hath  been  hinted,  they  call  some  of  their  tribes  by  the  names  of 

4 


26 

Afghans  or  RohiUas.  Having  met  with  a  Persian  abridg- 
ment of  the  Asrarul  Afaghinah^  or  the  secrets  of  the 
Afghans y  he  was  induced  to  translate  it,  and  to  transmit 
it  to  Sir  WilUam  Jones  then  president  of  the  Asiatic  so- 

the  cherubinical  figures  that  were  carried  on  the  four  principal  standards  of 
Israel. 

2.  "By  a  strict  permanent  divine  precept,  the  Hebrew  nation  were  order- 
ed to  worship,  at  Jerusalem,  Jehovah  the  true  and  living  God,  who  by  the 
Indians  is  styled  Toheiuak  s  which  the  72  interpreters,  either  from  ignorance 
or  superstition,  have  translated  Adonai,  the  very  same  as  the  Greek  Kyrius^ 
signifying  Sir,  Lord,  or  Master,  which  is  commonly  applied  to  earth!)  poten- 
tates witliout  the  least  signification  or  relation  to,  that  most  great  and  awful 
name  which  describes  the  divine  essence. 

3.  "  Agreeably  to  the  theocracy  or  divine  government  of  Israel,  the  Indi- 
ans think  tlie  Diety  to  be  the  immediate  head  of  their  state— All  the  nations 
of  Indians  are  exceedingly  intoxicated  with  religious  pride,  and  h<..\e  an  inex- 
pressible contempt  of  the  white  people — They  used  to  call  us,  in  their  war 
orations,  the  accursed  people  .•  but  they  flatter  themselves  with  the  name  oi  the 
beloved  people  ;  because  their  supposed  ancestors,  as  they  affirm,  were  under 
the  immediate  government  of  the  Deity,  who  was  pi'esent  with  them  in  a  ve- 
ry peculiar  manner  and  directed  them  by  prophets,  while  the  rest  of  the 
world  wei-e  aliens  and  outlaws  to  the  covenant— When  the  old  Archim.tgus, 
or  any  one  of  their  Magi,  is  persuading  the  people  at  their  religious  solem- 
hities  to  a  strict  observance  of  the  old  beloved  or  divine  speech,  he  nhvays 
calls  them  the  beloved  or  holy  people,  agreeably  to  the  Hebrew  epithet  Atnint 
(my  people)  during  the  theocracy  of  Israel— It  is  their  opinion  of  the  theo- 
cracy, or  that  God  chose  them  out  of  all  the  rest  of  mankind  as  his  peculiar 
and  beloved  people,  which  alike  animates  both  the  white  Jew  and  the  red 
American  with  that  steady  hatred  against  all  the  world  except  themselves, 
and  renders  them  hated  or  despised  by  all. 

5.  *'  The  Indian  language  and  dialects  appear  to  have  the  very  idiom  and 
genius  of  the  Hebrew.  Their  words  and  sentences  are  expressive,  concise, 
emphatical,  sonorous,  and  bold  ;  and  often,  both  in  letters  and  signification, 
are  synonymous  with  the  Hebrew  language."  Here  follows  a  number  of  ex- 
amples. 

6.  •'  They  count  time  after  the  manner  of  the  Hebrews.  They  divide  the 
year  into  spring,  summer,  autumn,  and  winter.  They  number  their  year 
from  an)'  of  those  four  periods,  for  they  have  no  name  for  a  year  ;  and  they 
subdivide  these,  and  count  the  year  by  lunar  months,  like  the  Israelites  who 
counted  by  moons  as  their  name  sufficiently  testifies— The  number  and  regu- 
lar periods  of  the  Indians'  religious  feasts  is  a  good  historical  proof,  tliat  they 
counted  time  by,  and  observed,  a  weekly  sabbatli  long  after  their  arrival  ort 
the  American  continent — They  began  the  year  at  the  first  appearance  of  the 
first  new  moon  of  the  vernal  equinox,  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  year  of 
Moses — Till  the  70  years  captivity  commenced,  the  Isi-aelites  had  only  nume- 
ral names  for  the  solar  and  lunar  months,  except  Abib  and  Ethanim  :  the  for- 
mer signifies  a  green  ear  of  corn  ;  and  the  latter  robust  or  valiant :  and  by  the 
first  name  the  Indians,  as  an  explicative,  term  their  passover,  which  the 
trading  people  call  the  green  corn  dance."  He  then  gives  a  specimen  of  the 
Hebrew  manner  of  comiting,  in  order  to  prove  its  similaiity  to  that  of  the 
Indians. 

7.  "  In  conformity  to,  or  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  the  Indian  Ameri- 
cans have  their  prophets,  high-priests,  and  others  of  a  religious  order.  As 
thefje  ws  had  a  sanctum  sanctorum,  so  have  all  the  Indian  nations.  There  they 
deposit  their  consecrated  vessels  ; — none  of  the  laity  daring  to  approach  that 
eacred  place*— The  Indian  tradition  says,  that  their  forefathers  were  possess- 


27 

ciety.  It  opens,  as  he  justly  observes,  with  a  very  wild 
description  of  the  origin  of  that  tribe,  and  contains  a  nar- 
rative  which  can  by  no  means  be  offered  upon  the  whole 
as  a  serious  and  probable  history  :  yet  the  knowledge  of 

ed  of  an  extraordinary  divine  spirit,  by  which  they  foretold  things  future,  and 
controlled  the  common  course  of  nature  :  and  this  tiiey  transmitted  to  their 
oflTsprin.e^,  provided  they  obeyed  the  sacred  laws  annexed  to  it — Ishtoallo  is 
the  name  of  all  their  priestly  order  ;  and  their  pontifical  office  descends  by 
inheritance  to  the  eldest — There  are  some  traces  of  agreement,  though  chief- 
ly lost,  in  tiieir  pontifical  dress.  Before  the  Indian  Archimagus  officiates  in 
maknig  the  supposed  holy  fii-e  for  the  yeai-ly  atonement  of  sin,  the  Sagan 
clothes  iiim  with  a  white  ephod,  which  is  a  waistcoat  without  sleeves. — In 
resemblance  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  the  American  Archimagus  wears 
a  breastplate  made  of  a  white  conch-shell  with  two  holes  bored  in  the  middle 
of  it,  through  which  he  puts  the  ends  of  an  otter-skin  strap,  and  fastens  a 
buck-horn  white  button  to  the  outside  of  each,  as  if  in  imitation  of  the  pre- 
cious stones  of  the  Urim."  Upon  this  statement  I  may  observe,  that  Ishtoallo 
may  perhaps  be  a  corruption  oi  IsJi-da-Eloah,  a  nnati  of  God  (See  2  Kings  iv. 
21,  22,  25,  27,  40,  et  alibi)  ;  and  that  Sagan  is  the  very  name,  by  which  the 
Hebrews  called  the  deputy  of  the  High-Priest,  Vv^ho  supplied  his  office,  and 
who  performed  the  functions  of  it,  in  the  absence  of  the  High-Priest,  or 
when  any  accident  had  disabled  him  from  officiating  in  person.  (See  Calmet's 
Diet.  Vox  Sagan.) 

8.  "  The  ceremonies  of  the  Indians  in  their  religious  worship  are  more 
after  the  Mosaic  institution,  than  of  pagan  imitation  ;  which  could  not  be,  if 
the  majority  of  the  old  nation  were  of  heathenish  descent — They  are  utter 
strangers  to  all  the  gestures  practised  by  the  pagans  in  their  religious  rites 
•—They  have  another  appellative,  which  with  them  is  the  jnysterious  essential 
name  of  God  ;  the  tetragrammaton,  or  great  Jour-lettered  name,  which  they 
never  name  in  common  speech :  of  the  time,  and  place,  when,  and  where, 
they  mention  it,  they  are  very  particular,  and  ahvays  with  a  solemn  air— It  is 
well  known  what  sacred  regard  the  Jews  had  to  the  four-lettered  divine 
name,  so  as  scai'cely  ever  to  mention  it,  but  once  a  year  when  the  High- 
Priest  went  into  the  sanctuary  at  the  expiation  of  sins.  Might  not  the  Indians 
copy  fiom  them  this  sacred  invocation  To-He-Wah  ?  Their  method  of  invok- 
ing God  in  a  solemn  hymn  with  that  reverential  deportment,  and  spending  a 
full  breath  on  each  of  tlie  two  first  syllables  of  the  awful  divine  name,  hath  a 
surprizing  analogy  to  the  Jewish  custom,  and  such  as  no  other  nation  or  peo- 
ple, even  with  the  advantage  of  written  records  have  retained— It  may  be 
worthy  of  notice,  that  they  never  prostrate  themselves,  nor  bow  their  bodies 
to  each  other,  by  way  of  salute  or  homage,  though  usual  with  the  eastern  na- 
tions ;  except  when  they  are  making-,  or  renewing,  peace  with  strangers,  who 
come  in  the  name  ofTah."  After  speaking  of  their  sacred  adjuration  by  the 
great  and  awful  name  of  God,  he  says  :  "  When  we  consider,  that  the  period 
of  the  adjurations,  according  to  their  idiom,  only  asks  a  question,  and  that 
the  religious  waiters  say  Tah  with  a  profoimd  reverence  in  a  bowing  posture 
of  body  Immediately  before  they  invoke  Yo-He-Wah  ;  the  one  reflects  so 
much  light  upon  the  other,  as  to  convince  me  that  the  Hebrews  both  invoked 
and  pronounced  the  divine  tetragrammaton  Yo-He-Wah,  and  adjured  their 
witnesses  to  give  true  evidence  on  certain  occasions  according  to  the  Indian 
usage  :  otherwise,  how  could  they  possibly  in  a  savage  state  have  a  custom 
so  nice  and  strong  pointing  a  standard  of  religious  caution  ?  It  seems  exactly 
to  coincide  with  th^  conduct  of  the  Hebrew  witnesses  even  now,  on  the  like 
religious  occasions."  According  to  Mr.  Adair,  the  American  Indians  have, 
like  the  Hebrews,  a  sacred  ark,  in  which  are  kept  various  holy  vessels.  "  It 
is  highly  worthy  of  notice  that  they  never  place  the  ark  on  the  ground,  nor 


28 

what  a  nation  supposes  itself  to  be,  more  especially  if  it 
trace  its  descent  Irom  the  stock  of  Jacob,  cannot  fail  to 
be  interesting.  In  fact,  although  the  Afghans  are  most 
probably  mistaken  in  fixing  the  period  at  which  they 

sit  on  the  bare  earth  while  they  are  carrying  it  against  the  enemy.  On  hilly 
ground  where  stones  are  plenty,  they  place  it  on  them  ;  but,  in  a  level  land, 
upon  short  logs,  always  resting  themselves  on  the  like  materials.  They  have 
also  as  strong  a  faith  of  the  power  and  holiness  of  their  ark,  as  ever  the  Isra- 
lites  retained  of  theirs.  The  Indian  ark  is  deemed  so  sacred  and  dangerous 
to  be  touched,  either  by  their  own  sanctified  warriors,  or  the  spoiling  ene- 
my, that  they  dare  not  touch  it  upon  any  account.  It  is  not  to  be  meddled 
with  by  any  except  the  chieftain  and  his  waiter,  under  penalty  of  incurring 
great  evil :  nor  would  the  most  inveterate  enemy  touch  it,  for  the  same  rea- 
son. .The  leader  virtually  acts  the  part  of  a  priest  of  war  pro -tempore^  in 
imitation  of  the  Israelites  fighting  under  the  divine  mihtary  banner — As  re- 
ligion is  the  touchstoi>e  of  every  nation  of  people  ;  and  as  these  Indians  can- 
not be  supposed  to  ha%'e  been  deluded  out  of  theirs,  separated  from  the  rest 
of  tlie  world  for  many  long  forgotten  ages,  the  traces,  which  may  be  discerned 
among  them,  will  help  to  corroborate  the  other  arguments  concerning  their 
origin."  Among  their  other  religious  rites,  they  cut  out  the  sinewy  part  of 
the  thigh.  This  custom  Mr.  Adair  supposes  to  be  commemorative  of  the  an- 
gel wrestling  with  Jacob,     See  Gen.  xxxii.  32. 

12.  •'  Eagles  of  every  kind  they  esteem  unclean  food  ;  likewise  ravens, 
crows,  bats,  buzzards,  swallows,  and  every  species  of  owl.  They  behevc, 
that  swallowing  flies,  gnats,  and  the  like,  always  breeds  sickness.  To  this 
that  divine  sarcasm  alludes,  " s'wallo'wing  a  camel  and  straining  at  a  gnat" 
Their  purifications  for  their  priests,  and  for  having  touched  a  dead  body  or 
other  unclean  things,  are,  according  to  Mr.  Adair,  quite  Levitical.  He  ac- 
knowledges however,  that  they  have  no  traces  of  circumcision  ;  but  thinks 
that  they  lost  tliis  rite  in  their  wanderings,  as  it  ceased  during  the  40  years 
in  the  wilderness. 

15.  "  The  Israelites  had  cities  of  refuge  for  those  who  killed  a  person  una- 
wares. According  to  the  same  particular  divine  law  of  mercy,  each  of  these 
Indian  nations  have  either  a  house  or  town  of  refuge,  which  is  a  sure  asylum 
to  protect  a  man-slayer  or  the  unfortunate  captive,  if  they  can  once  enter  into 
it.  In  almost  every  Indian  nation  there  are  several  peaceable  towns,  called 
old  beloved,  ancient,  holy,  or  white,  towns.  They  seem  to  have  been  former- 
ly towns  of  refuge  :  for  it  is  not  in  the  memory  of  their  oldest  people  that 
ever  human  blood  was  shed  in  them,  although  they  often  force  persons  from 
thence  and  put  them  to  death  elsewhere." 

16.  "  Before  the  Indians  go  to  war,  they  have  many  preparatory  ceremo- 
nies of  purification  and  fasting,  like  what  is  recorded  of  the  Israelites. 

21.  "The  surviving  brother,  by  the  Mosaic  law,  was  to  raise  seed  to -a 
deceased  brother,  who  left  a  widow  childless.  The  Indian  custom  looks  the 
very  same  wfiy :  yet  it  is  in  this,  as  in  their  law  of  blood,  the  eldest  brother 
can  redeem. 

23.  "  Although  other  resemblances  of  the  Indian  rites  and  customs  to  those 
of  the  Hebrews  miglit  be  pointed  out,  not  to  seem  tedious,  I  proceed  to  the 
last  argument  of  the  origin  of  the  Indian  Americans ;  which  shall  be  from  their 
own  traditions,  from  the  accounts  of  our  English  writers,  and  from  the  tes- 
timonies whicli  the  Spanish  writers  have  given  concerning  the  primitive  in- 
habitants of  Peru  and  Mexico. 

"  The  Indian  tradition  says,  that  their  forefathers  in  very  remote  ages  came 
from  a  far  distant  country,  where  all  the  people  were  of  one  colour  ;  and  that, 
in  process  of  time,  they  moved  eastward  to  their  present  settlements.  So 
tjiat  what  some  of  oui"  writers  have  asserted  is  not  just,  who  say  the  Indians 


29 

believe  themselves  to  have  branched  out  from  the  parent 
tree,  for  Scripture  affords  not  the  least  warrant  to  their 
opinion ;  yet  there  is  certainly  nothing  very  irrational  in 
supposing,  that  they  may  have  been,  at  some  time  or 

affirm,  that  there  wel-e  originally  three  different  tribes  in  those  countries." 
Here  Mr.  Adair  gives  a  fabulous  story.  "  This  story  sprung  from  the  inno- 
^'ating  superstitious  ignorance  of  the  popish  priests  to  the  south-west  of  us. 
Our  own  Indian  tradition  is  literal  and  not  allegorical ;  and  ought  to  be  receiv- 
ed, because  persons  who  have  been  long  separated  from  the  rest  of  mankind 
must  know  their  own  traditions  the  best,  and  could  not  be  deceived  in  so  ma- 
terial and  frequently  repeated  an  event.  Though  they  have  been  disjoined  ' 
through  different  interests  time  immemorial,  yet  (the  rambling  tribes  of  north- 
ern Indians  excepted)  they  aver  that  they  came  over  the  Misaisippi  from  the 
westward,  before  they  arrived  at  their  present  settlements.  This  we  see 
verified  by  the  western  old  towns  they  have  left  behind  them,  and  by  the  si- 
tuation of  theirold  beloved  towns  or  places  of  refuge  lying  about  a  west 
course  from  each  different  nation.  Such  places  in  Judea  were  chiefly  built 
in  tiie  most  remote  parts  of  the  country  ;  and  the  Indians  deem  those  only  as 
beloved  towns  where  they  first  settled.  This  tradition  is  corroborated  by  a 
current  report  of  the  old  Chikkasah  Indians  to  our  traders,  that  about  40 
years  since"  (tliis  was  written  in  the  year  1775)  "there  came  from  Mexico 
some  of  the  old  Chikkasah  nation  in  quest  of  their  brethren  as  far  north  as  the 
Aquakpah  nation  about  130  miles  above  the  Nachee  old  towns  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Missisippi ;  but,  through  French  policy,  they  were  either  killed 
or  sent  back,  so  as  to  prevent  their  opening  a  brotherly  intercourse  as  they 
had  proposed.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  Muskohgeh  cave,  out  of 
which  one  of  their  politicians  persuaded  them  their  ancestors  formerly  ascend- 
ed to  their  present  terrestrial  abode,  lies  in  the  Nanne  Ilamgeh  old  town,  in- 
habited by  the  Missisippi  Nachee  Indians,  which  is  one  of  the  most  western 
parts  of  their  old  inhabited  country — The  old  waste  towns  of  the  Chikkasah 
lie  to  the  west  and  south-west,  from  whence  they  have  lived  since  the  tim^ 
we  first  opened  a  trade  with  them  ;  on  which  course  they  formerly  went  to 
war  over  the  Missisippi,  because  they  knew  it  best,  and  had  disputes  with 
the  natives  of  those  parts,  when  they  first  came  from  thence.  Wisdom  di- 
rected them  to  connive  at  some  injuries  on  account  of  their  itinerant  camp  of 
women  and  children  :  for  their  tradition  says  it  consisted  of  10,000  men  be- 
sides women  and  children,  when  they  came  from  the  west  and  passed  over 
the  Missisippi.  The  fine  breed  of  running  wood  horses,  which  they  brought 
with  them,  were  the  present  Mexican  or  Spanish  barbs.  They  also  aver,  that 
their  ancestors  cut  off  and  despoiled  the  greatest  ])art  of  a  caravan  loaded 
with  gold  and  silver :  but  the  carriage  of  it  proved  so  troublesome  to  them, 
that  they  threw  it  into  a  river,  where  it  could  not  benefit  the  enemy — 

"  Ancient  history  is  quite  silent  concerning  America,  which  indicates,"  that 
it  has  been  time  immemorial  rent  asunder  from  the  African  continent,  ac- 
cording to  Plato's  Timeus.  The  north-east  parts  of  Asia  were  also  undisco- 
vered till  of  late.  Many  geographers  have  stretched  Asia  and  America  so 
far  as  to  join  them  together,  and  others  have  divided  those  two  quarters  of 
the  globe  at  a  great  distance  from  each  other.  But  the  Russians,  after  seve- 
ral dangerous  attempts,  have  clearly  convinced  the  world  that  they  are  now 
divided,  and  yet  have  aliear  communication  together  by  a  narrow  straight, 
in  which  several  islands  are  situated,  through  which  there  is  an  easy  passage 
from  the  north-east  of  Asia  to  the  north-west  of  America  by  the  way  of 
Kamschatka,  which  probably  joined  to  the  north-west  point  of  America.  By 
this  passage,  supposing  the  main  continents  were  separated,  it  was  very 
practicable  for  the  inhabitants  to  go  to  this  extensive  new  world,  and  after- 
wards to  have  proceeded  in  quest  of  suitable  climates,  according  to  the  law 


30 

other,  aiid  in  some  manner  or  other,  connected  at  least 
with  the  ancient  Israelites. 

"  The  Afghans^  according  to  their  o^vn  traditions,  are 
the  posterity  of  Melic  Talut^  or  king  Saul ;  who,  in  the 
opinion  of  some,  was  a  descendant  of  Judah,  the  son  of 
Jacob ;  and,  according  to  others,  of  Benjamin,  the  brother 
of  Joseph.  In  a  war,  which  raged  between  the  children 
of  Israel  and  the  Amalekites,  the  latter,  being  victorious, 
plmidered  tlie  Jews,  and  obtained  possession  of  the  ark 
of  the  covenant.  Considering  this  the  god  of  the  Jews, 
they  threw  it  into  the  fire,  which  did  not  affect  it.  They 
aftenvards  attempted  to  cleave  it  with  axes  ;  but  -without 
success.  Every  indiA'idual,  who  treated  it  with  indignity, 
was  punished  for  his  temerity.  They  then  placed  it  in 
their  temple  ;  but  all  their  idols  bowed  to  it.  At  length 
they  fastened  it  upon  a  cow,  which  they  turned  loose  in 
the  wilderness. 

"  When  the  prophet  Samuel  arose,  the  children  of 
Israel  said  to  him,    JFe  have  been  totally  subdued  by  the 

of  nature  that  directs  eveiy  creature  to  such  clnnes  as  are  most  convenient 
and  agreeable  Sucli  readers,  as  may  dissent  from  my  opinion  of  the  Indian 
American  origin  and  descent,  ought  to  inform  us  how  the  natives  came  here, 
and  by  what  means  they  foi-med  the  long  chain  of  rites,  customs,  &c.  so  simi- 
lar to  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  and  in  general  dissimilar  to  the  modes 
of  the  pagan  world — 

"  I  presume,  enough  hath  been  said  to  point  out  the  similarity  between  the 
rites  and  customs  of  the  native  American  Indians,  andthoseof  the  Israelites; 
and  that  the  Indian  system  is  derived  from  the  moral,  ceremonial,  and  judi- 
cial, laws  of  the  Hebrews,  tlioiigli  now  but  a  fuintcopy  of  tlie  divine  original. 
Their  religious  rites,  martial  customs,  dress,  music,  dances,  and  domestic 
forms  of  life,  seem  clearly  to  evince  also,  that  they  came  to  America  in  early 
times  before  sects  had  sprung  up  among  the  Jews ;  wliich  was  soon  after 
their  prophets  ceased,  and  befoi-e  arts  and  sciences  had  arrived  at  any  per- 
fection :  otherwise  it  is  likely  they  would  have  retained  some  knowledge  of 
them,  at  least  where  they  first  settled,  it  being  a  favourite  climate  ;  and  con- 
sequently they  were  in  a  more  compact  body,  than  on  this  northern  part  of 
the  American  continent." 

The  recent  discoveries  of  Captain  Cook  respecting  the  streight  which  se- 
parates Asia  and  America  are  now  laid  down  in  every  modern  map.  Dr. 
Robertson  is  decidedly  of  opinion,  that  all  the  Americans  are  of  Asiatic  ex- 
traction with  the  sole  exception  of  the  Esquimaux.  He  further  observes^that, 
according  to  the  traditions  of  the  Mexicans,  "  their  ancestors  came  from  a 
remote  country,  situated  to  tlie  north-west  of  Mexico.  The  Mexicans  point 
out  their  various  stations  as  they  advanced  from  this  into  the  interior  provin- 
ces ;  and  it  is  precisely  the  same  route  which  they  must  have  held,  if  they  had 
been  emigrants  from  Asia."     Hist,  of  America,  B.  iv.  Sect  8.  p.  41,  42,  43. 

With  regard  to  the  curious  work  of  Mr.  Adair,  as  1  have  no  means  of  as- 
certaining its  authenticity,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  giving  no  opinion  what- 
soever upon  it.  "  Neque  confirmare  arguraentis,  neque  I'efellere,  in  anime 
est :  ex  ingenlo  suo  quisque  demat,  vel  addat,  fidem." 


31 

Amalekites^  and  have  no  king.  Raise  to  us  a  ki?rg,  that 
we  may  be  enabled  to  contend  for  the  glory  of  God.  Sa- 
muel said,  In  case  you  are  led  out  to  battle^  are  you  deter- 
mined to  fight  ?  They  answered,  Jfliat  has  befallen  us  that 
we  should  not  fight  against  Infidels  ?  That  nation  has  ba- 
nished us  from  our  country  and  children.  At  this  time  the 
angel  Gabriel  descended,  and,  delivering  a  wand,  said, 
It  is  the  command  of  God^  that  the  person.,  ivhose  stature 
shall  correspond  with  this  wand.,  shall  be  king  of  Israel. 

Melic  Talut  was  at  that  time  a  man  of  inferior  condi- 
tion, and  performed  the  humble  employment  of  feeding 
the  goats  and  cows  of  others.  One  day  a  cow  under  his 
charge  was  accidentally  lost.  Being  disappointed  in  his 
searches,  he  was  greatly  distressed,  and  applied  to  Samuel, 
saying,  /  have  lost  a  cow.,  and  do  not  possess  the  means  of 
satisfying  the  oxvner.  Pray  for  me.,  that  I  may  be  extri- 
cated from  this  difficulty.  Samuel,  perceiving  that  he  M^as 
a  man  of  lofty  stature,  asked  his  name.  He  answered, 
Talut.  Samuel  then  said.  Measure  Talut  with  the  wand 
which  the  angel  Gabriel  brought.  His  stature  was  equal 
to  it.  Samuel  then  said,  God  has  raised  Talut  to  be  your 
king.  The  children  of  Israel  answered.  We  are  greater 
than  our  king.  We  are  men  of  dignity.,  and  he  is  of  infe- 
rior condition.  How  shall  he  be  our  king  ?  Samuel  in- 
formed them,  that  they  should  know  that  God  had  con- 
stituted Talut  their  king,  by  his  restoring  the  ark  of  the 
covenant.  He  accordingly  restored  it,  and  they  acknow- 
ledged him  their  sovereign. 

"  After  Talut  obtained  the  kingdom,  he  seized  part  of 
the  territories  of  Jaliit.,  or  Goliah  ;  who  assembled  a  large 
army,  but  was  killed  by  David.  Talut  afterwards  died 
a  martyr  in  a  war  against  the  Infidels  ;  and  God  consti- 
tuted David  king  of  the  Jews. 

"  Melic  Talut  had  two  sons,. one  called  Berkia.,  and 
the  other  Irmia.,  who  served  David,  and  were  beloved  by 
him.  He  sent  them  to  fight  against  the  infidels  ;  and,  by 
God's  assistance,  they  were  victorious  *^. 

"  The  son  of  Berkia  was  named  Afghan,  and  the  son 
of  Irmia  was  named  Usbec.    Those  youths  distinguished 

*  Though  Saul  had  not  two  sons  of  these  names,  yet  the  names  themselves 
■ure  plainly  Hebrew.     Berkia  is  Barachia,  and  Irmia  is  Jeremiah. 


32 

themselves  in  the  reign  of  David,  and  were  employed 
by  Solomon.  Afghan  was  distinguished  by  his  corpo- 
ral strength,  which  struck  terror  into  demons  and  genii. 
Usbec  was  eminent  for  his  learning. 

"  Afghan  used  frequently  to  make  excursions  to  the 
mountains ;  where  his  progeny,  after  his  death,  establish- 
ed themselves,  lived  in  a  state  of  independence,  built 
forts,  and  exterminated  the  infidels. 

"  When  the  select  of  creatures,  Muhammed,  appeared 
upon  earth,  his  fame  reached  the  Afghaiis,  who  sought 
him  in  multitudes  under  their  leaders  Khalid  and  Abdul 
Rashid^  sons  of  fValid.  The  prophet  honoured  them 
with  the  most  gracious  reception,  saying.  Come,  0 
Muluc,  or  kings  ;  whence  they  assumed  the  title  of  Mu- 
lic,  which  they  enjoy  to  this  day.  The  prophet  gave 
them  his  ensign,  and  said  that  the  faith  would  be  strength- 
ened by  them. 

"  Many  sons  were  bom  of  Khalid,  the  son  of  Walid, 
who  signalized  themselves  in  the  presence  of  the  prophet, 
by  fighting  against  the  Infidels.  Muhammed  honoured 
and  prayed  for  them.^ 

"  In  the  reign  of  the  sultan  Mahmud  of  Ghaznah,  eight 
men  arrived  of  the  posterity  of  Khalid  the  son  of  TValidy 
whose  names  were  Kalun,  Alun,  Daud,  Talua,  Ahmed, 
Awin,  and  Ghazi.  Tlie  sultan  was  much  pleased  with 
them,  and  appointed  each  a  commander  in  his  army.  He 
also  conferred  on  them  the  offices  of  Vazir,  and  Vakili 
Mutlak,  or  regent  of  the  empire. 

"  Wherever  they  were  stationed,  they  obtained  pos- 
session of  the  countr)' ,  built  mosques,  and  overthrew  the 
temples  of  idols.  They  increased  so  much,  that  the 
army  of  Mahmud  was  chiefly  composed  of  Afghans — 

"  The  Afghafis  now^  began  to  establish  themselves  in 
the  mountains ;  and  some  settled  in  cities  Avith  the  per- 
mission of  sultan  Mahmud.  They  framed  regulations, 
dividing  themselves  into  four  classes,  agreeably  to  the  fol- 
lowing description.  The  first  is  the  pure  class,  consisting 
of  those  whose  fathers  and  mothers  were  Afghans.  The 
second  class  consists  of  those  whose  fathers  were  Afghans, 
and  mothers  of  another  nation.  The  third  class  contains 
those  whose  mothers  were  Afghans,  and  fathers  of  another 


33 

nation.  The  fourth  class  is  composed  of  the  children  of 
women  whose  mothers  were  Afghans^  and  fathers  and 
husbands  of  a  different  nation.  Persons,  who  do  not 
belong  to  one  of  these  classes,  are  not  called  Afghans. 

"  After  the  death  of  sultan  Mahmud,  they  made  ano- 
ther settlement  in  the  mountains.  Shihabuddin  Gauriy 
a  subsequent  sultan  of  Gaz?iah,  was  twice  repulsed  from 
Hindustan.  His  Fazir  assembled  the  people,  and  asked 
if  any  of  the  posterity  of  Khalid  were  living.  They  an- 
swered, Many  now  live  in  a  state  of  indepemlence  in  the 
mountains,  where  they  have  a  co7isiderable  army.  The 
Fazir  requested  them  to  go  to  the  mountains,  and  by 
intreaties  prevail  on  the  Afghans  to  come  ;  for  they  were 
descendants  of  companions  of  the  prophet. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Ghaznah  undertook  this  embas.^ 
sy  ;  and,  by  intreaties  and  presents,  conciliated  the  minds 
of  the  Afghans,  who  promised  to  engage  in  the  service  of 
the  sultan,  provided  he  would  come  himself  and  enter 
into  an  agreement  with  them.  The  sultan  visited  them 
in  their  mountains,  honoured  them,  and  gave  them  dres- 
ses and  other  presents.  They  supplied  him  with  12,000 
horse,  and  a  considerable  army  of  infantry.  Being  dis- 
patched by  the  sultan  before  his  own  army,  they  took 
Dehh  ;-  killed  Roy  Patoura  the  king,  his  ministers,  and 
nobles  ;  laid  waste  the  city  ;  and  made  the  infidels  pri- 
soners. They  afterwards  exhibited  nearly  the  same 
scene  in  Canauj. 

"  The  sultan,  pleased  by  the  reduction  of  those  cities, 
conferred  honours  upon  the  Afghans.  It  is  said,  that  he 
then  gave  them  the  titles  of  Patan  and  Khan.  The  word 
Patan  is  derived  from  the  Hindi  verb  Paitna,  to  rush,  in 
allusion  to  their  alacrity  in  attacking  the  enemy.  The 
Patans  have  greatly  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
history  of  Hindustan,  and  are  divided  mto  a  variety  of 
sects. 

"  The  race  of  Afghans  possessed  themselves  of  the 
mountain  of  Solomon,  which  is  near  Kandahar,  and  the 
circumjacent  country,  where  they  have  built  forts.  This 
tribe  has  furnished  many  kings.  The  following  monai'chs 
of  this  race  have  set  upon  the  throne  of  Dehli:  sultan 
Behlole,  Afghan  Lodi,  sultan  ^ecander,  sultan  Ibrahim, 
5 


34 

Shir  Shah,  Islam  Shah,  Adil  Shah  Sin\  They  also 
number  the  following  kings  of  Goiir :  Solaiman  Shah 
Gurzani,  Bayazkl  Shah,  and  Kutb  Shah ;  besides  whom 
their  nation  has  produced  many  conquerors  of  provinces. 
The  Afghans  are  called  Solaimani ;  either  because  they 
were  formerly  the  subjects  of  Solomon  king  of  the  Jews, 
or  because  they  inhabit  the  mountain  of  Solomon  *." 

It  must  be  confessed,  that  this  Afghan  tradition  bears 
a  strong  resemblance  to  many  of  those  Mohammedan 
legends,  which  are  founded  upon  Scripture  ;  whence  it  is 
certainly  not  impossible,  that  a  tribe  of  Mussulmans 
might  be  in  possession  of  it  without  being  descended 
from  the  house  of  Israel :  yet  I  know  not  whether  another 
instance  can  be  produced  of  a  nation,  ^vilich  professes 
the  faith  of  Mohammed,  believing  itself  to  be  of  Jewish 
oris^in.  It  is  easv  to  account  for  a  tradition,  which  cor- 
responds  \vith  Scripture,  being  in  the  hands  of  Moham- 
medans :  but  it  is  not  quite  so  easy  to  account  for  the 
circumstance  of  those  Mohammedans  claiming  a  Hebrew 
descent,  unless  we  alloAv  the  validity  of  that  claim.  There 
iU'e  some  points  respecting  them,  in  which  Mr.  Vansittart 
and  Sir  William  Jones  do  not  perfectly  agree.  The  for- 
mer observes,  that  "  they  are  great  boasters  of  the  antiqui- 
ty of  their  origin,  and  reputation  of  their  tribe  ;  but  that 
other  Mussulmans  entirely  reject  their  claim,  and  consi- 
der them  of  modern  and  even  base  extraction."  The 
latter,  on  the  contrary,  who  is  not  v/ont  to  throw  out 
assertions  at  random,  adds  the  following  note  to  the  tra- 
dition ;  whence  it  appears,  that  he  was  not  disinclined  to 
admit  their  claim.  "  This  account  of  the  Afghans  may 
lead  to  a  very  interesting  discovery.  We  learn  from 
Esdras,  that  the  ten  tribes,  after  a  wandering  journey, 
came  to  a  country  called  Arsareth  ;  where,  we  may  sup- 
pose, they  settled  f-  Now  the  Afghans  are  said,  by  the 
best  Persian  historians,  to  be  descended  from  the  Jews  ; 
they  have  traditions  among  themselves  of  such  a  descent ; 
and  it  is  even  asserted,  that  their  families  are  distinguish- 
ed by  the  names  of  Jewish  tribes,  although,  since  their 
con\crsion  to  the  Islam,  they  studiously  conceal  their 

*  Asiatic  Researches,  Vol.  ii.  Numb.  4. 
f  2  Esdras  xiii.  40 — 4r 


origin.  The  Pushto  language,  of  which  I  have  seen  a 
dictionary,  has  a  manifest  resemblance  to  the  Chaldaic  ; 
and  a  considerable  district  under  their  dominion  is  called 
Hazareh  or  Hazaret,  which  might  easily  have  been 
changed  into  the  word  used  by  Esdras.  I  strongly  re- 
commend an  inquiry  into  the  literature  and  history  of  the 
Afghans:' 

From  this  interesting  note  of  that  great  linguist  M^e 
learn  four  very  curious  particulars,  relative  to  the  Af- 
ghans :  1 .  that  they  have  a  tradition  among  themselves, 
that  they  are  of  Jewish  origin,  although  not  very  forward 
to  acknowledge  their  descent ;  2.  that  this  is  not  a  mere 
vague  tradition,  known  only  to  themselves  and  ridiculed 
by  their  neighbours,  but  that  the  best  Persian  historians, 
with  whose  empire  they  have  always  been  connected  *, 
assert  the  very  same  ;  3.  that  a  considerable  district  under 
their  dominion  is  to  this  day  called  Hazaret,  a  word 
nearly  resembling  Arsareth,  which  (according  to  the 
apocryphal  Esdras,  whoever  he  might  be,  and  at  what- 
ever period  he  might  live  ■\)  was  the  name  of  the  countiy 
into  which  the  ten  tribes  retired ;  4.  and  that  their  lan- 
guage has  a  manifest  resemblance  to  the  Chaldaic. 

Though  I  would  not  implicitly  depend  upon  popular 
tradition,  yet  neither  would  I  entirely  reject  it.  In  the 
present  case  however  it  is  so  remarkably  supported,  that 
■we  can  scarcely  refrain  from  giving  it  some  degree  of  cre- 
dit. The  best  Persian  historians  sanction  the  popular  be- 
lief of  the  Afghans :  and,  what  has  always  been  allowed  to 
be  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  of  national  descent  and  re- 
fetionship,  their  language  manifestly  resembles  the  Chal- 
daic. In  mentioning  Arsareth  as  the  country  to  which 
the  ten  tribes  retired,  the  apocryphal  Esdras  probably  al- 
luded to  a  tradition  respecting  the  fate  of  their  brethren  at 
that  time  familiar  to  the  Jexvs :  and  we  find,  that  a  large 
part  of  the  country  of  the  Afghans,  who  believe  themselves 
to  be  of  Hebrew  origin,  and  whose  belief  is  at  once  cor- 
roborated by  the  best  historians  of  Persia  and  by  the  cir- 

* "  the  Afghans  ;  a  tribe,  at  different  times  subject  to  and  always  con- 
nected with  the  kingdoms  of  Persia  and  Hindustan."  Mr.  Vansittart's  let- 
ter to  Sir  William  Jones. 

f  The  reader  will  find  the  different  opinions  respectin:^  the  author  of  the 
second  book  of  Esdras  detailed  in  Dr.  Gray's  Key  to  the  Old  Testament." 


36 

cumstance  of  their  language  being  a  branch  of  the  Chaldaie, 
is  even  to  this  day  called  Hazaret.  The  reader  has  now 
the  evidence  before  him,  and  must  judge  for  himself, 
whether  the  claim  of  the  Afghans  is  to  be  allowed  or  re- 
jected. But,  whatever  be  its  fate,  the  prophecies  respect- 
ing the  distinct  restoration  of  Israel  remain  unaffected, 
and  Avill  surely  be  accomplished. 

Before  I  entirely  quit  this  part  of  my  subject,  I  shall 
notice  a  coincidence,  which  is  at  least  curious,  if  it  de- 
serve no  better  epithet.  St.  John  tells  us,  that  the  sixth 
vial  of  God's  wrath  will  be  poured  upon  the  liver  Eu- 
phrates, the  waters  of  which  will  in  consequence  of  it  be 
dried  up,  in  order  that  a  way  may  be  prepai'ed  for  the 
kings  "who  are  from  the  rising  of  the  sun.  Mr.  Mede  sup- 
poses, and  (arguing  from  the  analogy  of  language  used 
in  the  Apocalypse)  I  think,  incontrovertibly,  that  the  ex- 
haustion  of  the  Euphrates  means  the  subversion  of  the  Ot- 
toman empire :  and  he  farther  conjectures,  that  the  kings y 
for  whom  this  event  is  to  prepare  a  way,  are  the  Jeivs. 
Had  he  said  the  Israelites  *,  he  would  perhaps  have  ex- 
pressed himself  with  greater  accuracy  :  for,  if  the  passage 
do  at  all  allude  to  the  restoration  of  the  house  of  Jacob, 
it  relates  more  probably  to  that  of  the  ten  tribes ,  than  to 
that  of  Judah.  But  why  should  either  the  Israelites  or 
the  Jervs  be  styled  kings  ?  Such  a  title  accords  very  ill 
with  the  present  condition  of  the  Jews,  and  still  worse 
with  that  of  the  Israelites,  if  they  be  so  entirely  lost  and 
swallowed  up,  as  some  have  imagined.  Mr.  Mede  does 
not  attempt  to  solve  this  difficulty.  If  however  it  should 
eventually  prove  that  the  Afghans  are  really  the  remains 
of  the  ten  tribes,  and  if  St.  John  speak  of  the  restoration 
of  those  ten  tribes  under  the  name  oi  kings  from  the  east, 
we  shall  immediately  perceive  the  singularly  exact  pro- 
priety with  which  he  styles  them  kings.  The  whole  race 
of  the  Afghans,  as  we  have  seen  from  the  preceding  ac- 
count of  them,  denominate  themselves  even  to  the  pre- 

*  Mr.  Mede  does  at  first  iiuleed  say  Israelites,  but  he  ever  after  speaks  only 
oT  yev:s  (See  Comment.  Apoc.  in  loc.)  I  expressed  myself  with  equal  inac- 
curacy, when  treating  of  the  same  subject  in  the  first  edition  of  my  Dissert, 
on  the  1260  year*.  The  fact  was,  I  had  at  that  time  indolently  acquiesced  in 
the  commonly  received  opinion,  as  stated  by  Bp.  Newton,  that  the  ten  tribes 
would  only  be  restored  conjointly  with  and  included  in  the  tribe  ofyudah. 


37 

sent  day,  in  their  Chaldaic  dialect,  Melie^  or  with  the 
plural  termination  Melchim,  in  English,  kings.  They 
consider  themselves  as  a  royal  nation  ;  and,  according  to 
their  own  tradition,  claim  their  title  of  Melic  from  a  grant 
of  Mohammed  whose  religion  they  profess.  If  then  they 
be  of  Hebrew  extraction,  the  drying  up  of  the  mystic  Eu- 
phrates, or  the  subversion  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  would 
undoubtedly  prepare  a  way  for  them  both  naturally  and 
morally.  A  power  would  be  removed,  whose  dominions 
now  stretch  between  Persia  and  Palestine  ;  and  one  great 
branch  of  that  false  religion,  by  which  the  Afghans  are  at 
present  deluded,  would  be  broken  off.  According  to  Mr. 
Vansittart,  the  sects  of  the  Afghans  are  very  numerous ; 
and  they  appear  to  be  a  nation  formidable  at  once  for  its 
population,  and  for  its  bravery.  "  Their  character  may 
be  collected  from  history.  They  have  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  courage,  both  singly  and  unitedly,  as  priur 
cipals  and  auxiliaries.  They  have  conquered  for  their 
own  princes  and  for  foreigners,  and  have  always  been  con- 
sidered the  main  strength  of  the  army  in  which  they  have 
served*." 

I  have  stated,  that  the  restoratio?i  of  Judah  will  com- 
mence at  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  and  have  intimated 
it  to  be  probable  that  it  will  not  be  completely  effected 
till  a  period  of  30  additional  years  shall  likewise  have  ex- 

*  Besides  these  Mohammedan  Israelites,  if  indeed  the  Afghans  be  Israel- 
ites, it  appears,  that  there  are  in  the  East  many  of  the  same  ancient  stock  of 
Jacob.  "  There  is  reason  to  believe,"  says  Mr.  Buchanan,  "that  scriptural 
records,  older  than  the  apostolical,  exist  on  the  coast  of  Malabar.  At  Cochin 
there  is  a  colony  of  Jews,  who  retain  the  tradition  that  they  arrived  in  India 
soon  after  the  Babylonian  captivity.  There  are  in  that  province  two  classes 
of  Jews,  the  white  and  the  black  Jews.  The  black  Jews  are  those,  who  are 
supposed  to  have  arrived  at  that  early  period.  The  white  Jews  emigrated 
from  Europe  in  later  ages.  What  seems  to  countenance  the  tradition  of  the 
black  Jews  is,  that  they  have  copies  of  those  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
■which  were  written  previously  to  the  captivity,  but  none  of  those  whose 
dates  are  subsequent  to  that  event — The  latest  information  respecting  them 
is  contained  in  a  letter  lately  received  from  a  learned  missionary  in  the  sontli 
of  the  peninsula,  who  had  resided  for  some  time  in  the  vicinity  of  Cochin. 
He  states,  that  he  had  constantly  been  informed  that  the  Jews  at  Cochin  had 
those  books  only  of  the  Old  Testament  which  were  written  before  the  Baby- 
lonian captivity  ;  and  that  thence  it  is  generally  believed  by  the  Christians  of 
the  Decan,  that  they  had  come  to  India  soon  after  that  event.  He  adds,  that 
the  M.S.  was  on  a  material  resembling  paper,  in  the  form  of  a  roll ;  and  that 
the  character  had  a  strong  resemblance  to  Hebrew,  if  not  Hebrew."  (Me- 
moir of  an  eccles.  establishment  for  British  India,  p.  117,  118.)  Are  we  tn 
esteem  these  people  Jews,  or  a  remnant  of  the  ten  tribes  ? 


38 

pired.  This  conjecture  is  founded  upon  a  remarkable 
chronological  passage  in  the  book  of  Daniel.  The  pro- 
phet teaches  us,  that  75  yeai's  \v  ill  intervene  between  the 
expiration  of  the  1260  years  and  the  coimnencemeiit  of  the 
'millennium  :  and  these  75  years  he  divides,  without  spe- 
cifying any  reason  for  such  a  division,  into  30  years  and 
45  years.  What  particular  event  will  happen  at  the  era 
of  the  division,  we  undoubtedly  cannot  determine  with 
any  degree  of  certainty ;  because  Daniel  has  left  it  whol- 
ly undetermined :  but  we  must  conclude,  that  the  point  of 
the  division  will  be  marked  by  some  signal  event ;  other- 
wise how  can  we  rationally  account  for  such  a  division 
having  been  made  ?  Now,  when  we  find,  by  comparing 
prophecy  with  prophecy,  that  the  restoration  of  Judah  will 
precede  the  restoration  of  Israel,  and  that  the  restoration 
of  Israel  will  not  even  so  much  as  commence  till  the  res- 
toration of  at  least  the  main  body  of  Judah  ^  is  completed, 
and  till  the  power  of  Antichrist  is  broken :  it  is  at  least 
highly  probable,  that  the  30  years  will  be  occupied  in  the 
conversion  and  restoration  of  Judah,  in  the  great  earth- 
quake or  political  convulsion  that  divides  the  Latin  em- 
pire into  three  parts,  in  the  wars  of  Antichrist  with  the 
kings  of  the  north  and  the  south,  in  his  grand  expedition 
against  Palestine  and  Egypt,  and  in  the  contemporary^ 
naval  expedition  of  the  maritime  power  undertaken  for  the 
pui'pose  of  bringing  back  the  converted  Jews  ;  that  the 
30  years  will  close  with  the  complete  overthrow  of  Anti- 
christ in  the  Aalley  of  Megiddo,  an  event  than  which  we 
cannot  conceive  one  better  calculated  to  mark  a  signal 
chronological  epoch ;  and  that  the  45  yea?'s  will  be  em- 
ployed in  the  wanderings  of  those  who,  escaping  from  the 
xout  of  the  Antichristian  army,  will  carry  eveiy  where  the 
tidings  of  God's  supernatural  interference,  and  in  the 
subsequent  conversion  and  restoration  of  the  whole  house 
of  Israel.       I  wish  this  to  be  understood  only  as  conjec- 

*  It  appears  from  the  mention  of  ffo7?;e  countries,  into  which  ^(accordin^  to 
Isaiah)  the  fiigUives  from  the  Antichristian  arviiy  will  wander,  that  several 
scattered  "Jeivs  will  be  left  behind  in  Europe  both  by  the  inaritivie  power  and 
by  Antichrist.  These  will  be  converted  and  hasten  to  join  their  brethren,  both 
in  consequence  of  the  report  of  the  fugitives,  and  of  their  beholding-  from 
afar  the  glory  of  the  Lord  manifested  over  Jerusalem  in  tlie  awful  sign  of  tJie 
Shechinah.     See  Isaiah  Ixvi.  18,  19. 


ture ;  for  it  would  be  folly  to  speak  positively  before  the 
event. 

When  the  45  years  shall  have  expired,  when  the  whole 
family  of  Jacob  shall  have  been  converted  and  restored, 
and  when  the  stick  of  Jiidah  shall  have  united  itself  for 
ever  with  the  stick  of  Joseph  ;  then  will  commence  the 
season  of  millennian  blessedness  *.  We  have  reason  to 
suppose,  that  the  ancient  people  of  God,  now  converted  to 
the  faith  of  Christ,  will  be  greatly  instrumental  in  spread- 
ing the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen 
nations,  already  prepared  to  receive  it  by  so  many  super- 
natural interpositions  of  Providence,  and  by  beholding 
with  their  own  eyes  the  glory  of  the  Lord  permanently 
manifested  over  Jerusalem.  Accordina:  to  the  united  tes- 
tiniony  of  many  of  the  prophets,  Israel,  after  his  restora- 

*  what  Mr.  Mede  has  said  upon  the  subject  of  these  numbers  is  to  me 
alto.s^'ether  unsatisfactory.  He  dates  them  from  the  prof anation  of  the  temple 
by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  thus  making-  the  first  number  terminate  about  a.  d. 
112U,  and  the  second  about  a.  d.  1166  ;  and  he  refers  them  altogether  to  the 
suspicions,  which  then  began  to  be  entertained  by  many,  that  the  Pope  was 
Antichrist  fSee  Mede's  Work.s,  B.  iii  P.  717 — 724.)  But  what  great  bless- 
edness was  there  in  living  about  the  year  1166  ?  Mr.  Mede  answers,  that 
then  the  Vv^'aldenses  began  to  be  persecuted,  and  the  promise  to  be  fulfilled 
that  '•  blessed  are  tlic  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord."  Such  an  answer,  I  must 
confess,  appears  to  me  little  better  than  a  quibble.  In  fact,  it  can  only  be  by 
a  very  strained  constri'ction  tluit  we  can  make  these  numbers  relate  to  the 
times  when  the  xvise  first  beg-an  to  understand.  According-  to  the  general 
context  of  the  whole  passage,  tiiey  obviously  extend  beyond  the  1260  years, 
and  reach  to  the  very  end  of  the  days,  to  the  comtnenceniait  of  some  period  of 
great  blessedness.  Bp.  Newton,  much  more  judiciously  than  Mr.  Mede  whom 
he  scruples  not  to  pronounce  mistaken,  connects  these  numbers  with  the 
126U)'eflri,  making  their  overplus  reach  beyond  tliem.  At  the  close  of  ^Ae 
1190  years,  if  I  mistake  not,  he  places  the  complete  restoration  of  the  yews,  and 
the  destruction  of  Antichrist :  at  the  close  of  the  1535  years,  the  full  conversion 
of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  beginning  of  the  Millennium.  See  Dissert,  xvii.  to- 
wards the  end.  Mr.  Wintle,  like  myself,  inclines  to  prefer  Bp.  Newton*s 
opinion  to  that  of  Mr.  Mede.  See  Note  on  Dan.  xii.  11.,  See  also  Mr.  Lowth  ia 
loc.  Mr.  Fleming's  opinion,  though  it  differs  from  tliat  of  Mr.  Mede  in  com- 
puting the  number  1290  from  the  final  desolation  of  Jerusalem  in  the  year  135, 
and  the  number  1335  from  the  end  of  the  number  1290,  appears  to  me  to  be 
equally  objectionable  ;  or,  I  should  rather  say,  much  more  objectionable,  be- 
cause it  is  founded  upon  an  absolute  error.  By  the  accoTnplishing  of  the  scat' 
feriiig  of  the  holy  people  (Dan.  xii.  7.)  he  umlerstands  the  comme?icementtf  their 
complete  scattering  by  Adrian  in  the  year  135  ;  whereas  the  expression  means 
tlie  very  reverse,  namely  the  termination  of  their  scattering  or  the  beginning  of 
their  restoration.  In  this  sense  accordingly  it  is  understood  both  by  Mede, 
Newton,  Lowth,  and  Wintle.  Our  common  English  translation  indeed  em- 
ploys two  different  words,  accomplish  a.ndjinish  ;  but  the  self-same  word  in 
the  origiiial  is  used  in  both  places,  and  in  both  alike  ought  to  have  been  ren- 
dered hy  finish  : — "  when  he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the 
4joly  people,  all  these  wonders  shall  be  finished."  Fleming's  Apoc.  Kej', 
p.  74. 


40 

tion,  will  be  sown  among  the  Gentiles ;  and  will  thus  h^ 
made,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  from  first  to  last,  the  seed 
of  the  Church.  This  preaching  of  the  Gospel  by  the  con- 
vei'ted  Israelites,  unlike  the  preaching  of  it  by  that  first 
handful  only  of  seed,  the  Hebrew  Apostles  of  our  Lord, 
will,  I  apprehend,  be  totally  unattended  by  persecution 
or  opposition :  for  all  trials  of  that  nature  would  be  in- 
compatible with  the  predicted  peace  and  blessedness  of 
the  millennian  church.  God  will  incline  the  heaits  of  the 
Gentiles  to  receive  the  word  a:ladlv.  Great  shall  be  the 
day  of  Jezrael.  For,  if  the  fall  of  the  Jews  be  the  riches 
of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of  them  the  riches  of 
the  Gentiles ;  how  much  more  their  fulness  ?  Nay,  in- 
stead of  opposing  or  slighting  the  truth,  so  eager  shall  the 
heathens  be  to  receire  it,  that  out  of  all  the  languages  of 
the  nations  ten  men  shall  lay  hold  of  the  skirt  of  only  one 
Jew,  declaring,  with  a  holy  vehemence,  their  full  deter- 
mination to  go  with  him,  inasmuch  as  they  have  heard 
that  God  is  with  him  of  a  truth.  In  short,  the  whole 
world  shall  press  eagerly  to  Jerusalem  to  behold  the  glo- 
ry of  the  Lord,  and  to  receive  instruction  from  the  lips 
of  his  servants.  All  nations  shall  flow  like  a  mighty  tor- 
rent to  his  holy  mountain,  assured  that  he  will  teach  them 
of  his  ways,  and  cause  them  to  walk  in  his  paths ;  that 
the  law  shall  go  forth  out  of  Zion,  and  the  -w^ord  of  the 
Lord  from  Jerusalem.  Wars  and  tumults  shall  be  no 
more ;  and  the  whole  earth  will  form,  as  it  were,  only  one 
great  family  of  faithful  worshippers. 

It  is  not  impossible,  that  some  may  feel  a  curiosity  to 
know  what  nation  is  intended'  by  the  gi' eat  maritime  power 
destined  to  take  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  restoration  of 
Judah.  On  this  point  their  curiosity  cannot  be  gratified; 
at  least,  not  with  any  degree  'of  precision.*  Bp.  Horsley 
has  studiously,  as  it  were,  enlarged  the  circle,  within 
which  the  power  in  question  is  to  be  sought  for.  "  Its 
situation,"  says  he,  "  is  not  otherwise  described  in  the 
prophecy  which  peculiarly  sets  forth  its  office  and  actions*, 
than  by  this  circumstance  ;  that  it  is  beyond  the  rivers  of 
Ciish,  That  is,  fai'  to  the  west  of  Judea,  if  these  rivers  of 

*  Isaiali  xviii.  * 


41 

Cush  are  to  be  understood,*  as  they  have  been  generally 
understood,  of  the  A'lle  and  other  Ethiopian  rivers  ;  far  to 
the  east,  if  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.   The  one^  or  the 
other ^  they  must  denote  ;  but  rohich^  is  uncertain  : — inso- 
much that  we  know  not,  in  what  quarter  of  the  world  to 
look  for  the  countr\^  intended,  whether  in  the  East  Indies, 
or  in  the  western  parts  of  Africa  or  Europe,  or  in  Ame- 
rica*."     What  his  Lordship  says  on  the  subject  is  per- 
fectly just :  and,  were  there  no  other  prophecies  that 
treated  of  the  restoration  of  Judah  except  that  which  par- 
ticularly describes  the  maritime  power ^  we  undoubtedly 
could  not  even  approximate  to  any  certainty  respecting 
its  precise  situation.    But  there  are  other  parallel  predic- 
tions, which,  although  they  do  not  authorize  us  to  say 
that  this  state  or  that  state  is  the  maritime  power  intended 
by  Isaiah,  seem  nevertheless  to  give  us  some  warrant  verj' 
considerabl}^  to  contract  at  least  the  circle  within  which 
it  is  to  be  sought.    The  isles  of  the  Gentiles^  and  the  ships 
ofTarshish^  are  represented  as  bringing  the  sons  ofJiidaJi 
from  afar  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  their  God  ■\ :  and 
the  returning  Jews  themselves  are  exhorted,  while  they 
ciy  aloud  from  the  sea  or  (as  the  original  word  may  with 
equal  propriety  be  translated)  the  west,  to  glorify  God  in 
the  isles  of  the  sea,  that  is,  the  isles  of  the  westj^..     Now 
it  is  well  known,  that  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  call 
the  whole  maritime  region  of  Europe  by  the  general  name 
of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  or  the  isles  of  the  sea  ;  because 
the  Phenicians  were  unable  to  reach  any  part  of  that  re- 
gion, except  by  the. means  of  shipping  §.     And  it  is  fur- 
ther known,  that  perhaps  the  greatest  part  of  the  Jews, 
properly  so  called,  is  scattered  through  the  different  na- 
tions of  Europe.    These  isles  of  the  Gentiles  then  are  des- 
tined to  the  office  of  bringing  back  the  Jexvs :  but  some 
one  nation  among  them,  described  as  the  Tyre  of  the  day, 
and  whose  ships  are  mystically  styled  the  ships  of  Tarsh- 
ish,  is  plainly  to  take  the  lead  in  bringing  back  at  least 
the  converted  Jews.  Thus  is  the  circle  at  once  narrowed, 
from  the  east  and  the  west  in  general,  to  a  particular  part 

*  Bishop  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  p.  90,  91.    See  also  P.  37—41. 
t  Isaiah  Ix.  8 — 11.  t  Isaiah  xxiv.  14,  15. 

^  See  Mede's  "SVorks,  B.  i.  P.  272,  27.^ 

6 


42 

only  of  the  west ;  iiumel}^  the  maritime  region  of  Eirr ope ^ 
and  some  mig-hty  naval  puxver  ^\hich  will  then  occupy 
the  same  place  in  the  modern  world  that  Tyre  did  in  the 
ancient  world.  But  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  sliips 
of  Tarshish,  are  clearly  described  by  Isaiah  as  restoring 
the  Jews  in  a  converted  state,  and  as  undertaking  that  of- 
fice upon  religious  motives  :  and  he  represents,  with  equal 
plainness,  both  the  great  maritime  power,  and  the  Jews 
under  its  protection,  as  beirig  faithful  and  acceptable  \A'or- 
shippers  of  the  Lord  in  piuit}-  and  truth.    Yet  we  know, 
that  at  this  very  period,  the  might g  confederacy  of  Anti- 
christ, which  (we  have  i-eason  to  believe  both  from  pro- 
phecy and  from  the  passing  events  of  the  day)  will  at 
least  comprehend  the  whole  of  the  papal  lioman  empire j 
will  commence  its  expedition  against  Palestine,  in  direct 
opposition,  though  perhaps  not  a\owed  opposition,  to  the 
purposes  of  the  Most  High.     Here  then,  at  the  epoch  of 
the  restoration  of  Jtidah,  ■we  have  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles 
divided  into  two  parts  :  the  o/?e' papal,  and  subject  to  the 
tyrannical  domination  oi  Antichrist ;  the  of/zcr  protestant, 
and  under  the  influence  of  the  maritime  power  described 
as  the  ships  of  TarsJiish.     Those  isles  of  the  Gejitiles 
therefore,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish,  which  restore  the 
Jews  in  a  converted  state,  and  in  order  to  glorify  the  name 
of  the  Lord  their  God,  certainly  cannot  be  that  part  of 
Europe  which  is  subjugated  by  Antichrist :  because  their 
views  and  principles  are  directlv  opposite  to  the  vie^vs 
and  principles  of  Antichrist.     Hence  it  will  follow,  that 
the  nutrifime  power  must  not  only  be  sought  for  geneiriL 
ly  in  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  or  in  Europe,  but  particu- 
larly in  the  believing  isles  of  the  Gentiles  or  in  protestant 
Europe.      Fm^ther  than  this  we  have  no  authority  to  ad- 
^  A'^ance,  and  therefore  I  shall  not  advance  further  :   but  I 
shall  content  myself  with  resting  in  the  conchision,  that 
the  maritime  porver  will  be  that  state  of  protestant  Europe 
which  shall  possess  a  decided  navcd  superiority  at  the  time 
when  the  1260  years  shall  expire.  This  mighty  maritime 
power,  and  other  smcdler  maritime  protestant  powers  its 
allies,  described  by  the  prophet  under  the  general  name 
of  the  isles  of  the  Ge?itiles,  will  undoubtedly  be  the  agents 
in  converting  and  restoring  those  Jews  who  ai'c  not  under 
the  influence  of  Antichrist. 


43 

Such  is  all  the  positive  knowledge,  that  we  can  now 
attain  to,  respecting  the  great  naval  power,  which  wdll 
act  so  conspicuous  a  part  at  the  time  of  the  efid.     Every 
person,  who  attends  to  the  subject,  will  doubtless  have 
his  own  private  conjectures :  l3ut    he    is  not,  I   think, 
warranted  in  making  his  conjectures  public  ;  because  he 
cannot  have  those  clear  grounds  to  go  upon,  which  almost 
indisputably  attach  to  France  the  character  of  Daniel's 
infidel  kingdom,  and  more  recently  the  additional  charac- 
ter of  the  Carlovingian  head  of  the  Boman  beast,  that  is  to 
contrive  and  direct  the  Atitichristian  expedition  against 
Palestine  at  the  time  of  the  end.     We  are  at  present  very 
manifestly  living  in  the  last  days  of  blasphemous  atheism 
and  infidelity  ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  think,  that  we 
cannot  be  very  far  distant  from  the  close  of  the  1260  years, 
from  whatever  precise  period  they  ought  to  be  dated. 
Now  we  leam  from  concurring  prophecies,  that,  at  the 
close  of  those  years  or  at  the  time  of  the  end,  four  miglity 
powers  will  be  the  principal  actors  in  the  great  drama  of 
nations  :  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  or  Cxirlovingian 
head,  a  head  which  we  can  now  scarcely  avoid  considering 
as  identified  with/Ae  infidel  A-?;?^t/o7;?,  although  the  governor 
of  that  kingdom  has  not  yet  formally  assumed  the  title  of 
Roman  emperor;    some  great  protestant  maritime  and 
commercial  state  ;  a  king  of  the  north  ;  and  a  king  of  the 
south.  If  then,  what  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  we  be  now 
rapidly  approaching  to  tliat  time  of  the  end,  Mhen  all  these 
four  powers  will  be  in  action  ;   -w'e  may  naturally  expect 
to  behold  some  at  least  of  the  powers  alread}^  in  existence. 
Accordingly,  upon  turning  from  prophecy  to  the  present 
state  of  things  in  Euro})e,  we  see  a  kingdom,  which  ex- 
actly and  in  all  points  answers  to  the  character  of  Danil 
el's  infidel  kingdom,  transferring  from  Germany  to  itself 
^the  ancient  imperial  honours  of  the  Carlovingian  head, 
and  rapidly  establishing  a  sort  of  federal  empire,  which 
no  less  exactly  answers  to  the  character  of  the  apocalyptic 
confederacy  of  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  head,  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth*.     We 

*  See  Rev.  svi.  13—16.  and  xix.  17 — 21.  The  confederacy  will  not  begin  to 
be  gathered  to  the  battle  of  tlie  great  day  of  God  Almighty,  till  after  thp 
-overthrow  of  the  Ottoman  empire  ;  but  it  will  plainly  be  either  foroned  or foron- 


44 

moreover  see  a  mighty  protestant  maritime  power,  arriv- 
ing with  rapid  strides  at  the  most  complete  naval  superi- 
ority that  ever  was  possessed  by  any  modern  nation  ;  and, 
having  singularly  availed  itself  of  the  suggestion  of  one 
Whose  whole  life  has  been  spent  upon  land*,  no  longer 
as  formerly  either  fighting  its  enemies  on  equal  terms  or 
gaining  over  them  indecisive  victories,  but  annihilating 
whole  fleets  at  a  blow,  esteeming  what  would  once  have 
been  deemed  a  victory  as  woilhy  only  of  censure  t»  and 
triumphing  over  all  its  opponents  in  all  quaiters  of  the 
globe.  We  further  see  a  vast  northern  sovereignty^  the 
chief  of  which  may  well  be  called  by  way  of  eminence 
the  king  of  the  north,  extending  itself  on  e\'ery  side,  and 
rising  m  the  inconceivablv  short  space  of  little  more  than 
a  century  from  barbarous  insignificance  to  immense  po^v- 
er  and  influence.  As  yet  we  behold  indeed  no  state, 
which,  consistently  with  the  general  tenor  of  prophecy, 
we  can  even  guess  to  be  the  kingdom  of  the  south  :  of  this 
however  we  may  rest  assured,  that  at  the  close  of  the 
1260  years,  some  kingdom  of  the  south  will  unite  its  arms 
with  the  kingdom  of  the  north  in  opposing  the  progress  of 
Antichrist ;  •  and  that  they  will  both  fail  in  their  attempt. 
Yet,  although  they  will  fail,  no  intimation  is  given  that 
they  will  be  totally  destroyed  by  that  t}  rant :  whence  we 
may  perhaps  venture  to  conclude,  that  they  will  be  rather 
baffled  than  subjugated :j: 

ing,  about  or  before  that  event  takes  jilace.  The  three  demons  are  not  repre- 
sented as  gatherhig  ov  forming  tlie  confederacy  itself;  but  oidy  as  g'atliering 
it,  inhenforDicd,  to  tlie  battle  of  the  Lord. 

*  Jolm  Clark,  Esq.  This  g'entleman,  who,  so  far  from  being'  bred  to  the 
sea,  liad  not  even  performed  a  sing-h::  voyage,  first  sugg'ested  the  present  sys- 
tem of  naval  tactics,  the  jirominent  feature  of  which  is  to  break  the  enemy's 
line  of  battle.  A  long  series  of  indecisive  actions  excited  the  attention  of  the 
inquisitive  mind  of  Mr.  Clark.  He  became  the  inventor  of  an  entirely  new 
system,  wliicli  was  first  acted  upon  by  Lord  Rodney.  Since  that  time  no  en- 
gagement has  proved  indecisive  :  but  eacli  succeeding  victory  has  surpassed 
its  predecessor  in  completeness  and  in  importance.  Does  not  such  a  man 
deserve  psiblic  honours  from  his  country  ? 

f  On  the  22d  of  July  1805,  Sir  Robert  Calder,  with  15  sail  of  the  line  and 
two  frigates,  fought  the  combined  squadrons  of  France  and  Spain,  consisting 
of  20  sail  of  t!ie  line,  three  ships  of  50  guns,  and  five  frig^ates.  Without  losing- 
a  single  ship  of  his  own  fleet,  he  took  from  the  enemy  two  sail  of  the  line. 
He  returned  home  ;  was  tried  by  a  court  martial;  and  was  severely  repri- 
manded for  having  done  nothing  more. 

t  So  far  indeed  from  the  ?wrtkern  kingdom  being  subjugated,  we  have  some 
reason  from  prophecy  to  believe,  that  it  will  be  a  tremendous  instrument  in 


45 

Is  then  England  the  great  maritime  power,  to  which  the 
high  office  ol  converting  and  restoring  a  large  part  of  his 
ancient  people  is  reserved  by  the  Almighty?  To  this  ques- 
tion, I  am  compelled  to  say,  that  we  have  no  right  posi- 
tively to  answer  in  the  affirmative.  England  may,  or 
may  not.  The  thing  is  certainly  not  improbable  in 
itself;  and  I  will  even  add,  that  the  present  aspect  of 
affiiirs  by  no  means  contradicts  the  conjecture,  that  our 
hitherto  highly  favoured  country  may  be  the  protestant 
European  naval  power  intended  by  Isaiah  :  yet  I  must 
likewise  add,  that  such  an  opinion,  should  it  be  enter- 
tained by  any,  can  be  considered  in  no  other  light  than 
that  of  a  mere  conjecture ;  a  conjecture  authorized  indeed, 
as  some  may  imagine,  by  existing  circumstances  and  by 
the  high  probability  that  we  are  not  far  removed  from  the 
time  of  the  end,  but  a  conjecture,  totally  unauthorized  by 
the  prophet  himself.  This  however  I  may  safely  say,  that, 
the  more  true  piety  increases  among  us,  the  more  likely 
will  it  be  that  England  is  the  great  maritime  power  in 
question.  At  the  present  awful  period,  wdien  the  judg- 
ments of  the  Lord  are  so  manifestly  abroad  in  the  earth, 
the  accession  even  of  every  individual  to  the  cause  of 
vital  religion  and  Christian  holiness  renders  us  more 
strong  and  more  secure ;  and  increases  the  probability 
that  the  maritime  power  may  be  England,  because  it 
makes  us  more  fit  for  the  task  (a  task  meet  only  for  the 
sincerely  pious)  of  converting  and  restoring  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Judah.  A  wicked  nation  can  be  expect- 
ed to  furnish  no  very  suitable  missionaries.  So  great  a 
labour  of  love  will  require  proportionable  purity  of  heart 
and  conversation,  and  proportionable  devotedness  to  the 
service  of  God.  If  iniquity  therefore  increase,  and  right- 
eousness decrease,  among  us  ;  I  may  say,  without  pre- 
tending to  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  that  we  certainly  cannot 
be  that  naval  power,  which  the  Lord  will  delight  to  ho- 
nour by  delegating  to  it  the  venerable  office  of  carrying 
the  Gospel  to  his  ancient  people. 

the  hand  of  God  to  scourge  the  guilty  inhabitants  of  the  papal  Roinan  eonpire. 
The  irruption  of  the  northern  poixer  into  the  south-western  regions  of  Europe 
will  niost  probably  take  place,  unless  I  be  mistaken  in  supposing  such  an 
irruption  to  be  predicted,  during  the  absence  of  Antichrist  in  Palestine  and 
Egypt.    More  will  be  said  on  this  subject  hereafter. 


46 

It  will  be  proper  for  me  now  to  make  a  few  remarks 
oil  the  mode  of  exposition,  which  will  be  adopted 
throughout  the  following  pages. 

Between  chronological  prophecies  and  iinchronological 
prophecies  there  is  a  striking  difference,  which  ought 
always  to  be  kept  in  mind.  A  chronological  prophecy., 
that  is  to  say,  a  prophecy  consisting  of  a  series  of  pre- 
dictions which  succeed  each  other  in  regular  chronologi- 
cal order  like  those  of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  is  incapable 
from  its  very  nature  of  receiving  a  two-fold  accomplish- 
ment ;  because  eveiy  link  of  such  a  prophecy  is  exclu- 
sively confined  to  a  particular  period  of  histor}  by  the 
links  which  both  precede  it  and  follow  it,  and  therefore 
can  only  be  applied  to  a  single  event.  In  short,  a  chain 
of  chronological  predictions  is  simply  an  anticipated  his- 
tory :  and  each  link  is  just  as  incapable,  and  that  for  the 
very  same  reason,  of  a  double  completion,  as  each  fact 
recorded  in  history  is  of  a  double  meaning  ^.  But  an 
unchronological  prophecy ^  that  is  to  say,  a  prophecy  which 
only  predicts  certain  future  events  without  specifying  the 
precise  time  when  those  events  will  come  to  pass  and 
without  so  connecting  them  with  any  preceding  series  as 
to  compel  us  to  assign  them  to  some  one  particular  era  ex- 
clusively, is  not  restricted  in  the  same  manner  that  a  chro- 
nological prophecy  must  necessarily  be.  Instead  of  being 
incapable  of  a  double  accomplishment,  we  perpetually  find 
predictions  of  this  nature  evidently  constructed  Avith  the 
express  design  of  receiving  a  double  accomplishment. 
They  are  first  fulfilled  in  an  incohoate  manner,  and  after- 
wards will  be  fulfilled  more  amply  at  a  period  to  which  they 
ultimately  and  principally  refer.  This  is  remarkably  the 
case  with  prophecies,  v/hich  treat  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  and  the  advent  of  the  Messiah :  insomuch  that  I  be- 
lieve  Bp.  Horsley  not  to  have  been  guilty  of  the  least  exag- 
geration, in  asserting,  "  that  a  far  greater  proportion  of  the 
prophecies,  even  of  the  Old  Testament,  than  is  generally 
imagined,  relate  to  the  second  advent  of  our  Lord  ;  that  few 
comparatively  relate  to  the  first  advent  by  itself,  without 
reference  to  the  second  ;  and  that  of  those,  that  have  been 

{    *  See  this  point  discussed  in  the  preface  to  my  Dissert,  on  the  12^0 years. 


47 

supposed  to  be  accomplished  in  the  first,  many  had  in 
that  only  an  inchoate  accomplishment,  and  have  yet  to 
receive  their  full  completion  *."  Such  a  mode  of  fore- 
telling future  events  seems  to  have  arisen  from,  or  per- 
haps rather  to  be  a  part  of  the  grand  scriptural  system  of 
types  and  antitypes.  The  first  advent  is  a  type  of  the 
second  advent :  hence  they  are  both  styled  the  great  day 
of  the  Lord  ;  and  hence  they  are  frequently  predicted  con- 
jointly, certain  matters  which  received  their  full  accom- 
plishment at  the  first  advent  being  inserted  (parentheti- 
cally as  it  were)  in  a  prophecy  which  strictly  and  principally 
relates  to  the  second  advent.  In  a  similar  manner,  the  Ba- 
bylonian captivity  of  the  Jews  is  a  type  oi  their  subsequent 
dispersion  by  the  Romans  ;  hence  many  of  those  predic- 
tions, which  from  the  elevation  of  their  style  and  from 
other  circumstances  connected  with  them  must  ultimately 
and  indeed  chiefly  be  referred  to  the  yet  future  restoration 
of  the  Jews,  probably  received  a  sort  of  inchoate  accom- 
plishment in  their  return  from  Babylon  f.  Some  however 
there  are,  w  hich  must  be  exclusively  applied  to  the  return 
from  Babylon ;  because  thej^  are  connected  with  a  specific 
number  of  years,  and  therefore  become  chronological  pro- 
phecies incapable  of  any  further   completion  1^.      And 

*  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  P.  3. 

f  "  It  luis  been  concluded  by  judicious  divines,"  says  Archdeacon  Wood- 
house,  "that  tliose  partial  pi'ophecies  and  particular  instances  of  the  divine 
vengeance,  whose  accomplishment  we  know  to  have  taken  place,  are  pre- 
sented to  us  as  t3pes,  certain  tokens  and  forerunners,  of  some  greater  events 
which  are  also  disclosed  in  them.  To  the  dreadful  time  of  universal  ven.- 
g-eance  they  all  appear  to  look  forward,  beyond  their  first  and  more  immedi- 
ate object.  Little  indeed  can  we  doubt  that  such  is  to  be  considered  the 
use  and  application  of  these  prophecies,  since  we  see  them  thus  applied  by 
our  Lord  aTid  his  ajjostles.  See  IMait.  i.  22,  23.  xxvii.9,— John  xv.  .25.  xix.  36, 
37.— Acts  ii.  20,  27.  iii.  19,  22,  24.— Heb.  iv.  7,  8.  x.  27,  37.— Rom.  ii.  5.  Gal. 
iv.  24.— Eph.  V.  14.--2  Thess.  ii.  3,  &c. — 2  Pet.  iii.  2—14  ;  where  the  prophe- 
cies of  the  Old  Testament  are  applied  in  a  more  extended  and  spiritual  sense, 
than  in  their  first  and  primary  desig-nation."  Apocalypse  translated,  p.  172, 
173. 

For  obsen'ations  on  the  double  sense  of  divine  prophecy,  the  Archdeacon 
refers  us  to  Bp.  Lowth.  Prxlect.  xi.  and  note  on  Isaiah  xl ;  Mr.  Lowth  on 
Isaiah  vii.  15 ;  Jortin's  remarks  on  Eccles.  Hist.  p.  188—228  ;  Serm.  v.  1, 124; 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  on  prophecy,  ]).  251  ;  Rp.  Kurd's  sermons  on  prophecy, 
III.  IV.  V  ;  Bp.  Sherlock  on  prophecy.  Disc,  ii ;  Bp.  Warburton's  Divine  Le- 
g-ation,  Book  vi.  8  ;  Bp.  Horn's  Preface  to  the  Psalms  ;  Jones  on  the  figura- 
tive lang'uage  of  Scripture,  Lect.  viii  ;  and  Archdeacon  Nares's  sermonSat 
the  Warburtonian  lecture,  1805. 

t  See  Jerem.  xxv.  11, 12.  xxix.  10.  Dan.  ix.  2. 


48 

others  again  there  are,  and  these  constitute  by  far  the 
greatest  proportion,  which  must  be  exckisively  applied  to 
the  yet  future  7'estoration  of  Israel ;  because  they  are 
connected  with  such  circumstances  as  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  any  other  application. 

This  typical  mode  of  foretelling  future  events  verj'  ma- 
terially affects  the  phraseology  of  prophecy.  At  the  era 
of  the  restoration  of  Judah.,  some  great  confederacy  of 
God^s  enemies  will  be  destroyed.  Such  is  the  general 
voice  of  prophecy ;  while  Daniel  and  St.  John  not  only 
teach  us  that  a  confederacy  of  that  nature  will  be  destroy- 
ed, but  intimate  very  unequivocally  of  rvhat  persons  it 
will  be  composed.  At  least,  recent  events  have  rendered 
their  predictions,  relative  to  this  confederacy,  far  less  equi- 
vocal and  difficult  to  be  understood,  than  they  once  ne- 
cessarily were  ;  and  I  doubt  not,  that  every  day  will  throw 
an  increasing  light  upon  them.  The  confede?'acy  in  ques- 
tion is  by  the  other  prophets  variously  pointed  out  under 
the  mystic  names  of  various  ancient  enemies  and  oppres- 
sors of  the  house  of  Israel.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  parallel 
language  of  the  Apocalypse,  it  is  styled  Babylon,  some- 
times Nineveh,  sometimes  Tyre,  but  most  frequently 
Edo?n  *.  In  prophecies  of  this  nature,  it  is  obvious, 
that,  where  Babylon  occurs,  the  destruction  of  the  li- 
teral  Babylon  at  the  era  of  the  first  restoration  of  the 
Jews  is  primarily  intended :  but  the  same  remark  cannot 
be  applied  to  the  other  types  of  the  Antichristian  confede- 
racy. Neither  Nineveh,  nor  Tyre,  nor  Edom,  were  over- 
thrown at  the  era  of  the  first  restoration  ;  and  yet,  since 
they  have  all  long  since  been  overthrown,  it  is  manifest, 
that  none  of  them  can  literally  experience  the  vengeance 
of  heaven  at  the  yet  future  era  of  the  second  restoration. 
Nevertheless  it  is  repeatedly  declared,  that  they  shall  ex- 
perience the  vengeance  of  heaven  at  that  very  period : 
hence  it  is  plain,  that  some  mystical  Nineveh,  Tyre,  and 
Edom,  can  only  be  intended.      Such  accordingly,  as  we 

*  It  is  excellently  observed  by  Bp.  Lowth,  that,  "  by  a  figure  very  common 
in  the  prophetical  writings,  a«v  city  or  people,  remarkably  distinguished  as  ene- 
mies oj  the  people  and  kingdom  of  God,  is  put  for  those  enemies  in  gtneral.  This 
seems  to  be  the  case  with  Edom  and  Bozrah"  Translat.  of  Isaiah,  Notes 
on  Chap,  xxxiv.  xxxv.    See  also  his  Prsleot.  Poet.  P.  274. 


49 

shall  find  in  the  sequel,  at  least  in  the  case  of  Edom,  is 
the  interpretation  given  by  the  Jews  themselves.  With 
one  consent  their  Rabbies  declare,  that  Edom,  when  so 
described,  can  only  mean  the  foiii'th  beast  of  Daniel,  or 
the  Roman  empire :  and  we,  who  are  Christians,  can  add, 
on  the  authority  of  St.  John,  that  it  must  mean  the  Ro- 
man empire  in  its  very  last  state  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  Roman 
empire  when  organized  into  the  grand  confederacy  of  An- 
tichristy  noiv  become  the  last  head  of  the  beast.  The  close 
connection  oithe  overthrow  of  Nineveh^  Tyre^  and  Edomy 
with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  will  sufficiently  guard  a 
commentator  from  the  ilHisions  of  fancy.  This  single 
circumstance  will  be  enough  to  teach  him,  whether  in. 
any  particular  prophecy  he  ought  to  understand  those 
powers  only  literally ^  or  whether  he  is  warranted  in  look- 
ing beyond  their  literal  to  their  mystical  import. 


so 


PROPHECY  I. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Israelites— Their  idolatry  in  their  disper- 
sion—Their future  restoration. 

Deuteronomy  iv.  27.  The  Lord  shall  scatter  you 
among  the  nations,  and  ye  shall  be  left  few  in  number 
among  the  peoples,  whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  you. 
28.  And  there  ye  shall  serve  gods,  the  work  of  men's 
hands,  wood  and  stone,  which  neither  see,  nor  hear,  nor 
eat,  nor  smell. 

29.  But,  if  from  thence  thou  shalt  seek  the  Lord  thy 
God,  thou  shalt  find  him,  if  thou  seek  him  with  all  thy 
heart  and  with,  all  thy  soul.  30.  When  thou  art  in  tri- 
bulation, and  all  these  things  are  come  upon  thee,  in  the 
end  of  the  days  if  thou  wilt  turn  unto  the  Lord  thy  God 
and  wilt  be  obedient  unto  his  voice,  31.  (For  the  Lord 
thy  God  is  a  merciful  God)  he  will  not  forsake  thee,  n.either 
destroy  the-s  ^  nor  forget  the  covenant  of  thy  fadiers  which 
he  sware  unto  them. 

COMMENTARY. 

At  the  time  when  this  prophecy  was  delivered,  the 
childrefi  of  Israel  were  on  the  point  of  taking  possession 
of  the  promised  land  ;  and,  humanly  speaking,  nothing 
was  less  likely  than  that  any  such  calamity,  as  Moses 
here  predicts,  should  befall  them.  Yet,  agreeably  to  his 
declaration,  the  ten  tribes  were  first  led  aWay  captive  into 
Assyria,  and  have  ever  since  been  given  up  to  the  delu- 
sion of  worshipping  strange  gods.  Afterwards  the  txvo 
tribes  were  carried  from  their  own  country  to  Babylon. 
And  at  length  the  same  two  tribes  were  yet  more  effectu- 
ally dispersed  by  the  Romans ;  and  are,  at  the  present 
-day,  wanderers  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  In  the 
course  of  this  their  last  captivity,  they  have  been  repeat- 
edly compelled,  as  if  that  the  prophecy  might  be  com- 
pletely fulfilled,  to  bow  do^vn  before  the  idols  of  Popery, 
and  to  abjure  their  own  religion  *, 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vii. 


51 

Nevertheless,  although  they  he  apparently  forsalceiij 
God  still  hath  his  eye  upon  them.  As  they  were  of  old 
brought  back  from  Babylon  ;  so  will  they^  in  due  season 
be  converted  from  their  long  apostasy,  and  be  gathered 
together  out  of  all  nations.  Nor  will  Judah  alone  be 
restored :  Israel  likewise  shall  seek  the  Lord  his  God, 
and  be  obedient  unto  his  voice.  Then  shall  the  two  rival 
kingdoms  be  for  ever  united  together,  so  as  to  forln  only 
ene  people :  for  God  hath  declared,  that  he  will  not  utter- 
ly destroy  them,  nor  ever  forget  the  covenant  wliich  he 
sw^are  unto  their  fathers. 


PROPHECY  II. 

The  calamities  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem — The  various  circum* 
stances  attending  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews — Their  final  con- 
version and  restoration. 

Deuteronomy  xxviii.  15.  It  shall  come  to  pass,  if 
thou  wilt  not  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  observe  to  do  all  his  commandments  and  his 
statutes  which  I  command  thee  this  day ;  that  all  these 
curses  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  overtake  thee — 46.  And 
they  shall  be  upon  thee  for  a  sign  and  for  a  wonder,  and 
upon  thy  seed  for  ever.  47.  Because  thou  servedst  not 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  joyfulness  and  with  gladness  of 
heart,  for  the  abundance  of  all  things;  48.  Therefore 
shalt  thou  serve  thine  enemies  which  the  Lord  shall  send 
against  thee,  in  hunger,  and  in  thirst,  and  in  nakedness, 
and  in  want  of  all  things  :  and  he  shall  put  a  yoke  of  iron 
upon  thy  neck,  until  he  have  destroyed  thee.  49.  The 
Lord  shall  bring  a  nation  against  thee  from  far,  from  the 
end  of  the  earth,  as  the  eagle  flieth ;  a  nation,  whose 
tongue  thou  shalt  not  understand ;  50.  A  nation  of  fierce 
countenance,  which  shall  not  regard  the  person  of  the 
old,  nor  shew  favour  to  the  young  :  51.  And  he  shall  eat 
the  fruit  of  thy  cattle,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  until  thou 
be  destroyed :  which  also  shall  not  leave  thee  either  corn, 
wine,  or  oil,  or  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  or  flocks  of  thy 
sheep,  until  he  have  destroyed  thee :   52.  And  he  shall 


52 

besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates,  until  thy  high  and  fenced 
walls  come  do^vn,  wherein  thou  trustedst,  throughout  all 
thy  land:  and  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates 
throughout  all  thy  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
given  thee.  53.  And  thou  shalt  eat  the  fruit  of  thine 
own  body,  the  flesh  of  thy  sons  and  of  thy  daughters 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee,  in  the  siege 
and  in  the  straitness  wherewith  thine  enemies  shall  dis- 
tress thee — 56.  The  tender  and  delicate  woman  among 
you, — her  eye  shall  be  evil — 57 — toward  her  young  one 
that  Cometh  out  from  between  her  feet,  and  toward  her 
children  which  she  shall  bear  :  for  she  shall  eat  them  for 
want  of  all  things  secretly  in  the  siege  and  straitness 
wherewith  thine  enemy  shall  distress  thee  in  thy  gates. 

58.  If  thou  wilt  not  observe  to  do  all  the  words  of  this 
law  that  are  written  in  this  book,  that  thou  may  est  fear 
this  glorious  and  fearful   name,   The  Lord  thy   God ; 

59.  Then  the  Lord  will  make  thy  plagues  wonderful,  and 
the  plagues  of  thy  seed,  even  great  plagues,  and  of  long 
continuance,  and  sore  sicknesses,  and  of  long  continu- 
ance.— 63.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that,  as  the  Lord 
rejoiced  over  you  to  do  you  good,  and  to  multiply  you  ; 
so  the  Lord  will  rejoice  over  you  to  destroy  you,  and  to 
bring  you  to  nought :  and  ye  shall  be  plucked  from  the 
land,  whither  thou  goest  to  possess  it.  64.  And  the 
Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  people,  from  the  one 
end  of  the  earth  even  to  the  other  ;  and  there  thou  shalt 
serve  other  gods,  which  neither  thou  nor  thy  fathers  have 
known,  even  wood  and  stone.  65.  And  among  these 
nations  shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  neither  shall  the  sole  of 
thy  foot  have  rest :  but  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  there  a 
trembling  heart,  and  failing  of  eyes,  and  sorrow  of  mind : 
66.  And  thy  life  shall  hang  in  doubt  before  thee  :  and 
thou  shalt  fear  day  and  night,  and  shalt  have  none  assur- 
ance of  thy  life  : — 37.  And  thou  shalt  become  an  aston- 
ishment, a  proverb,  and  a  by-word,  among  all  nations 
whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  thee — xxix.  22.  So  that  the 
generation  to  come  of  your  children  that  shall  rise  up 
after  you,  and  the  stranger  that  shall  come  from  a  far 
land,  shall  say,  when  they  see  the  plagues  of  that  land, 
and  the  sicknesses  which  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  it; 


53 

23.  And  that  the  whole  land  thereof  is  brimstone  and 
salt  and  burning,  that  it  is  not  so\vn,  nor  beareth,  nor  any 
grass  groweth  therein,  like  the  overthrow  of  Sodom,  and 
Gomorrah,  Admah  and  Zeboim,  which  the  Lord  over- 
threw in  his  anger  and  in  his  wrath  :  24.  Even  all  nations 
shall  say.  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto 
this  land  ?  what  meaneth  the  heat  of  this  great  anger  ? 
25.  Then  men  shall  say.  Because  they  have  forsaken 
the  covenant  of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fadiers,  which 
he  made  with  them  when  he  brought  them  forth  out  the 
land  of  Egypt :  26.  For  they  went,  and  served  other 
gods,  and  worshipped  them,  gods  whom  they  knew  not, 
and  whom  he  had  not  given  unto  them :  27.  And  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  this  land,  to  bring 
upon  it  all  the  curses  that  are  written  in  this  book : 
28.  And  the  Lord  rooted  them  out  of  their  land  in  anger 
and  in  wrath  and  in  great  indignation,  and  cast  them  into 
another  land,  as  it  is  this  day. 

29.  The  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God ; 
but  those  things,  which  are  revealed,  belong  unto  us  and 
unto  our  children  for  ever,  that  we  may  do  all  the  words 
of  this  law. 

XXX.  1.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  all  these 
things  are  come  upon  thee,  the  blessing  and  the  curse 
which  I  have  set  before  thee,  and  thou  shalt  call  them  to 
mind  among  all  the  nations  whither  the  Lord  thy  God 
hath  driven  thee,  2.  And  shalt  return  unto  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  shalt  obey  his  voice  according  to  all  that  I  com- 
mand thee  this  day,  thou  and  thy  children,  with  all  thine 
heart  and  with  all  thy  soul ;  3.  That  then  the  Lord  thy 
God  will  turn  thy  captivity,  and  have  compassion  upon 
thee,  and  will  return  and  gather  thee  from  all  the  nations 
whither  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  scattered  thee.  4.  If  any 
of  thine  be  driven  out  unto  the  utmost  paits  of  heaven, 
from  thence  will  the  Lord  thy  God  gather  thee,  and  from 
thence  will  he  fetch  thee  :  5.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will 
bring  thee  into  the  land  which  thy  fathers  possessed,  and 
thou  shalt  possess  it :  and  he  will  do  thee  good,  and  mul- 
tiply thee  above  thy  fathers.  6.  And  the  Lord  thy  God 
will  circumcise  thine  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to 


54 

love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart  and  with  all 
thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live. 

7.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  put  all  these  curses  up- 
on thine  enemies,  and  on  them  that  hate  thet,  which 
persecuted  thee. 

8.  And  thou  shalt  return  and  obey  the  voice  of  the 
Lord,  and  do  all  his  commandments  which  1  command 
thee  this  day.  9.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  make  thee 
plenteous  in  every  work  of  thine  hand,  in  the  fruit  of  thy 
body,  and  in  the  fruit  of  thy  cattle,  and  in  the  fruit  of  thy 
land,  for  good  :  for  the  Lord  will  again  rejoice  over  thee 
for  good,  as  he  rejoiced  over  thy  Fathers :  10.  If  thou 
wilt  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God  to  keep 
his  commandments  and  his  statutes  which  are  written 
in  this  book  of  the  law,  and  if  tliou  turn  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thine  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul. 

COMMENTARY. 

This  famous  prophecy  of  Moses  has  been  so  full\ 
and  so  well  discussed  by  Bp.  Newton*,  that  it  is  almost 
superfluous  for  mc  to  offer  any  observations  upon  ;  yet  a 
work  like  the  present  would  certainly  have  been  incom- 
plete if  I  had  omitted  it. 

After  describing,  as  it  were  with  the  pen  of  an  histo- 
rian, the  vcu'ious  calamities  which  have  since  befallen  the 
Jews  ;  the  capture  of  their  city  by  the  Romans,  a  nation 
whose  language  \vas  totally  different  both  from  their  own 
and  from  the  collateral  oriental  dialects  ;  the  circumstance 
of  the  noble  woman  being  reduced  to  eat  the  flesh  of  her 
own  child  ;  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  throughout  all  na- 
tions ;  their  becoming  a  proverb  and  a  by-word ;  the  com- 
parative sterility,  to  which  their  once  fruitful  land  is  no^v 
reduced  ;  the  notice  taken  of  that  sterility  by  travellers, 
and  their  comments  upon  it;  the  long  continuance  of  these 
calamities  :  in  short,  after  delineating  with  wonderful  mi- 
nuteness and  accuracy  the  future  miseries  of  the  Jewsy 
even  before  they  had  taken  possession  of  the  land  to  which 
the  Lord  was  then  miraculously  conducting  them,  Moses 
suddenly  reverses  the  scene,  and  predicts  their  restoration 

*  Dissert,  vii.  viii. 


55 

iyid  conversion.  He  declares,  that,  when  in  the  countries 
of  tlieir  dispersion  they  shall  call  to  mind  the  things  which 
have  befallen  them,  and  shall  understand  the  true  grounds 
of  those  curses  which  have  so  long  pursued  them,  then 
the  Lord  will  turn  their  captivity,  and  gather  them  out  of 
all  the  nations  whither  he  had  scattered  them  ;  that  he  will 
bring  them  back  into  the  land  of  their  fathers ;  that  he  will 
restore  to  it  its  former  fertility  ;  that  he  will  spiritually 
circumcise  their  hearts  ;  and  that  he  will  cause  both  them 
and  their  children  to  love  the  Lord  their  God  with  all 
their  heart  and  with  all  their  soul.  Nor  does  he  onlypre- 
diet  the  restoration  and  prosperity  of  Israel.  He  inti- 
mates, that,  at  the  same  period,  God  will  put  all  the  cur- 
ses, which  he  had  once  poured  upon  the  Jews,  upon' the 
head  of  their  enemies,  and  upon  the  head  of  those  that 
hated  and  persecuted  them.  From  other  parallel  prophe- 
cies, which  treat  more  largely  of  the  Judgtnents  of  the 
Lord  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  we  cannot 
doubt  that  this  is  an  allusion  to  the  overthrow  of  Anti- 
ohrist  and  his  confederacy. 

It  is  deeply  interesting  to  view,  in  connection  with  the 
present  prediction,  the  sentiments  of  ^Ae /^t;^  themselves. 
"  Soon  after  the  establishment  of  Christiimity,"  says  one 
of  their  writers,  "  the  Jewish  nation,  dispersed  since  the 
second  destruction  of  its  temple,  had  totally  disappeared. 
By  the  light  of  the  flames  which  devoured  the  monu- 
ments of  its  ancient  splendour,  the  conquerors  beheld  a 
million  of  victims  dead  or  expiring  on  their  ruins.  The 
hatred  of  the  enemies  of  that  unfortunate  nation  raged 
longer  than  the  fire  which  had  consumed  its  temple  ;  ac- 
tive and  relentless,  it  still  pursues  and  oppresses  them  in 
every  part  of  the  globe  over  which  they  are  scattered* 
Their  persecutors  delight  in  their  torments  too  much  to 
seal  their  doom  by  a  general  decree  of  proscription,  which 
would  at  once  put  an  end  to  their  buithensome  and  pain- 
ful existence.  It  seems  as  if  they  were  allowed  to  sur- 
vive the  destruction  of  their  country,  only  to  see  the  most 
odious  and  calumnious  imputations  laid  to  their  charge, 
to  stand  as  the  constant  object  of  the  grossest  and  most 
shocking  injustice,  as  a  mark  for  the  insulting  finger  of 
scorn,  as  a  sport  to  the  most  inveterate  hatred ;  it  seems 


56 

as  if  their  doom  was  incessantly  to  suit  all  the  dark  and 
bloody  purposes,  which  can  be  suggested  by  human  ma- 
lignity supported  by  ignorance  and  fanaticism.  Weighed 
down  by  taxes,  and  forced  to  contribute  more  than  Chris- 
tians for  the  support  of  society,  they  had  hardly  any  of 
the  rights  Avhich  it  gives.  If  a  destructive  scourge  hap- 
pened to  spread  havock  among  the  inhabitants  of  a  coun- 
try, the  Jews  had  poisoned  the  springs  ;  or  those  men, 
cursed  by  hea^'en,  had,  nevertheless,  incensed  it  by  their 
prayers  against  the  nation  \\'hich  they  were  supposed  to 
hate.  Did  so^'ereigns  want  pecuniary  assistance  to  carry 
on  their  wais?  The  Jews  were  compelled  to  give  up 
those  riches  in  which  they  sought  some  consolation 
against  the  oppressing  sense  of  their  abject  condition  :  as 
a  rewai'd  for  their  sacrifices,  they  were  expelled  from  the 
state  which  they  had  supported,  and  were  afterwards  re- 
called to  be  stript  again.  Compelled  to  wear  exteriorly 
the  badges  of  their  abject  state,  they  w^ere  every  where 
exposed  to  the  insults  of  the  vilest  populace.  When  from 
his  solitaiy  retreat  an  enthusiastic  hermit  preached  the 
crusades  to  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  a  part  of  its  inha- 
bitants left  their  country  to  moisten  with  their  blood  the 
plains  of  Palestine,  the  knell  of  promiscuous  massacre 
tolled  before  the  alarm-bell  of  war.  Millions  of  Jews 
were  then  murdered  to  glut  the  pious  rage  of  the  cru- 
saders. It  was  by  tearing  the  entrails  of  their  brethren 
that  these  warriors  sought  to  deserve  the  protection  of 
heaven.  Skulls  of  men  and  bleeding  hearts  were  offered 
as  holocausts  on  the  altars  of  that  God  who  has  no  plea- 
sure even  in  the  blood  of  the  innocent  lamb,  and  minis- 
ters of  peace  were  thrown  into  a  holy  enthusiasm  by  these 
bloody  sacrifices.  It  is  thus,  that  Basil,  Treves,  Co- 
blentz,  and  Cologn,  became  human  shambles.  It  is  thus, 
that  upwards  of  400,000  victims  of  all  ages  and  of  both 
sexes  lost  their  lives  at  Cesarea  and  Alexandria — And  is 
it,  after  they  have  experienced  such  treatment,  that  they 
are  reproached  with  their  vices  ?  Is  it,  after  being  for 
eighteen  centuries  the  sport  of  contempt,  that  they  are 
reproached  with  being  no  longer  alive  to  it  ?  Is  it,  after 
having  so  often  glutted  with  their  blood  the  thirst  of  their 
persecutors,  that  they  are  held  out  as  enemies  to  other 


57 

nations  ?  Is  it,  when  they  have  been  bereft  of  all  means^ 
to  mollify  the  hearts  of  their  tyrants,  that  indignation  is 
roused,  if  now  and  then  they  cast  a  mournful  look  to- 
wards the  ruins  of  their  temple,  towards  their  country, 
where  formerly  happiness  crowned  their  peaceful  days, 
free  from  the  cares  of  ambition  and  of  riches  ? — 

"  Since  the  light  of  philosophy  began  to  dawn  over  Eu- 
rope, our  enemies  have  ceased  to  satisfy  their  revenge 
with  the  sacrifice  of  our  lives.  Jews  are  no  longer  seen, 
who,  generously  refusing  to  bend  under  the  yoke  of  in- 
tolerance, were  led  with  solemn  pomp  to  the  fatal  pile. 
But,  although  the  times  of  these  barbarous  executions 
are  past  long  ago,  although  the  hearts  of  sovereigns  are 
now  strangers  to  this  cruelty,  yet  slavery  itself  and  pre- 
judices are  still  the  same.  By  what  crimes  have  we  then 
deserved  this  furious  intolerance  ?  What  is  our  o-uilt  ? 
Is  it  in  that  generous  constancy  which  we  have  manifest- 
ed in  defending  the  laws  of  our  fathers  ?  But  this  con- 
stancy ought  to  have  entitled  us  to  the  admiration  of  all 
nations,  and  it  has  only  sharpened  against  us  the  daggers 
of  persecution.  Braving  all  kinds  of  torments,  the  pangs 
of  death,  the  still  more  terrible  pangs  of  life,  we  alone 
have  withstood  the  impetuous  torrent  of  time,  sweep- 
ing indiscriminately  in  its  course  nations,  religions,  and 
countries.  What  is  become  of  those  celebrated  empires, 
whose  very  name  still  excites  our  admiration  by  the  ideas 
of  splendid  greatness  attached  to  them,  and  whose  power 
embraced  the  whole  surface  of  the  known  globe  ?  They 
are  only  remembered  as  monuments  of  the  vanity  of  hu- 
man greatness.  Rome  and  Greece  are  no  more  ;  their  de- 
scendants, mixed  with  other  nations,  have  lost  even  the 
traces  of  their  origin  ;  while  a  population  of  a  few  millions 
of  men,  so  often  subjugated,  stands  the  test  of  thirty  re- 
volving centuries,  and  the  fiery  ordeal  of  fifteen  centuries 
of  persecution  !  We  still  preserve  laws,  which  were  given 
to  us  in  the  first  days  of  the  world,  in  the  infancy  of  na- 
ture  !  The  last  followers  of  a  religion  which  had  embrac- 
ed the  universe  have  disappeared  these  fifteen  centuries, 
and  our  temples  are  still  standing  !  We  alone  have  been 
spared  by  the  indiscriminating  hand  of  time,  like  a  co- 
lumn  left  standing  amidst  the  wreck  of  worlds  and  the 


58 

ruins  of  nature.  The  history  of  this  people  connects  pre- 
sent times  with  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  by  the  testi- 
mony which  it  bears  of  the  existence  of  those  early  peri- 
ods :  it  begins  at  the  cradle  of  mankind,  and  its  remnants 
are  likely  to  be  preserved  to  the  very  day  of  universal 
destruction.  All  men,  whatever  may  be  their  opinions 
and  the  party  which  they  have  adopted,  \vhether  they 
suppose  that  the  will  of  God  is  to  maintain  the  people 
which  he  has  chosen ;  wliether  they  consider  that  con- 
stancy w4iich  characterises  the  Jews  as  a  reprehensible 
obstinacy ;  or  if,  lastly,  they  believe  in  a  God,  \\'ho,  re- 
garding all  religions  with  equal  complacency,  needs  no 
other  wonders  to  exemplify  his  greatness,  but  the  inces- 
sant and  magnificent  display  of  the  beauties  of  nature : 
all,  if  their  minds  are  susceptible  of  appreciating  virtue 
and  tried  firmness,  will  not  refuse  their  just  admiration 
to  that  unshaken  constancy  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of 
any  nation*." 

How  can  we  satisfactorily  account  for  the  wonderful 
preservation  of  the  dispersed  Jews,  M'ithout  admitting, 
w^hat  is  so  repeatedly  inculcated  in  prophecy,  that  their 
concerns  are  under  a  Special  superintendance  of  God's 
providence  f  ?  And  for  what  puq^ose  can  we  suppose 
them  to  be  thus  preserved  distinct  among  the  nations,  ex- 
cept for  that  which  is  no  less  repeatedly  declared  in  pro- 
phecy, their  restoration  and  conversion  ?  Assuredly  the 
time  xvill  arrive,  when  they  shall  be  gathered  out  of  all 
the  countries  of  their  dispersion,  and  brought  to  the  sav- 
ing knowledge  of  the  Gospel ;  when  Jews  and  Gentiles 
shall  jointly  form  only  one  flock  ;  and  when  the  hallowed 
name  of  Jesus  the  Messiah  shall  be  great  even  to  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth. 

*  An  appeal  to  the  justice  of  iings  and  nations,  cited  in  Transactions  of  the 
Parisian  Sanhedrim,  p.  64. 

•j-  The  Jews  themselves  seem  to  be  conscious  of  this  truth.  One  of  thera 
observesj  that  his  nation,  "scattered  by  the  storm  of  adversity  over  the  face 
of  the  habitable  globe,  always  unfortunate,  always  persecuted,  always  faith- 
fully adhering^  to  the  religion  of  its  ancestors  in  spite  of  tortures  and  of  suf- 
ferings, affords,  to  this  very  day,  a  striking  phenomenon  incomprehensible  to 
human  reason."    Trans^etions  of  the  Parisian  Sanliedrim,  p.  165. 


59 


PROPHECY  III. 

The  millennian  glory  of  Jerusalem — The  rebuking  of  Antichrist. 

Isaiah  ii.  1.  The  word  that  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amoz 
saw  concerning  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 

2.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  end  of  days,  that 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in 
the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shalt  be  exalted  above  the 
hills :  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  3.  And  many 
people  shall  go  and  say,  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of 
Jacob  :  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk 
in  his  paths  :  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.  4.  And  he  shall 
judge  among  the  nations,  and  shall  rebuke  many  people*. 
They  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their 
spears  into  pruning- hooks  :  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword 
against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more. 
5.  O  house  of  Jacob,  come  ye,  and  let  us  walk  in  the 
light  of  the  Lord. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  glories  of  the  jmllejinian  k'mgdo7n  of  Christy  or  the 
kingdom  of  the  mountain  f,  form  the  principal  subject  of 
this  prophecy.  In  the  end  of  days^  or  at  the  termination 
of  the  great  period  of  1260  daijs^  the  Jewish  Church  will 
begin  to  be  restored  to  her  right  of  primogeniture.  She 
will  join  her  younger  sister,  the  Gentile  Church  ;  and  will 
unite  with  her  in  receiving  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  Jeru- 
salem will  become  a  kind  of  spiritual  metropolis  of  the 
fifth  great  monarchy^  that  of  the  Lamb  :  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  will  be  in  the  midst  of  her :  and  she  will  be  acknow- 
ledged by  all  nations  to  be  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth. 


*  And  he  shall  judge  among  the  nations,  and  shall  rebuke  many  people."]  "  Both 
by  the  power  of  his  word,  which  is  compared  to  a  two-edged  sword  in  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  by  the  remarkable  judgements  which  he  will  exercise  upon  those  who 
are  incorrigible.  See  Luke  xix.  27.  Rev.  six.  15.  Psalm  ex.  6."  Mr.  Lowth's 
Comment,  in  loc. 

t  See  Dan,  ii.  35. 


The  return  of  the  converted  Jews  will  however  be  op- 
posed by  the  faction  of  Antichrist  and  his  congregated 
vassals.  These  the  Lord  will  rebuke  in  his  anger ;  and, 
after  cutting  off  the  irreclaimable  part  of  the  confederacy^ 
will  cause  the  rest  to  lay  down  their  weapons  of  war,  and 
to  humble  themselves  before  Messiah  the  king. 


PROPHECY  IV. 


The  judicial  blindness  of  the  Jews — Their  preservation  from  entire 

destruction. 

Isaiah  vi.  8.  And  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  say- 
ing, Whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?  Then 
said  I,  Here  am  I ;  send  me.  9.  And  he  said  ;  Go,  and 
tell  this  people,  Hear  ye  indeed,  but  understand  not ;  and 
see  ye  indeed,  but  perceive  not.  10.  Make  gross  the 
heart  of  this  people  ;  make  their  ears  dull,  and  close  up 
their  eyes  ;  lest  they  see  with  their  eyes,  and  heai'  with 
their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  be  con- 
verted, and  I  should  heal  them.  11.  And  I  said,  Lord, 
how  long  ?  And  he  answered :  Until  the  cities  be  laid 
waste,  so  that  there  be  no  inhabitant ;  and  the  houses,  so 
that  there  be  no  man  ;  and  the  land  be  utterly  desolate ; 

12.  And  the  Lord  have  removed  men  far  away ;  and 
there  be  a  great  forsaking  in  the  midst  of  the  land. 

13.  And,  though  there  be  a  tenth  part  remaining  in  it, 
even  this  shall  undergo  a  repeated  destruction  :  yet,  as 
the  ilex,  and  the  oak,  though  cut  down,  hath  its  stock 
remaining,  so  shall  a  holy  seed  be  the  stock  of  the  nation. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  remarkable  judicial  blindness  of  the  Jews^  with  re- 
spect to  the  promised  Messiah^  is  here  very  clearly  pre- 
dicted :  and,  accordingly,  the  prophecy  is  so  applied  both 
by  our  Lord  himself,  and  by  his  apostles  St.  John  and 
St,  Paul  *.     This  blindness  is  to  continue  during  the 

*  Matt.  xiii.  14.    John  xli.  40.    Acts  xxviii.  26. 


01 

whole  time  of  the  dispersion  :  and  so  accurately  has  the 
prediction  been  fulfilled,  that  now,  at  the  end  of  seven- 
teen centuries  from  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus, 
we  still  behold  the  Jews  removed  far  away  from  the  land 
of  their  fathers,  and  labouring  under  the  same  astonish- 
ing infatuation  that  prompted  their  ancestors  to  crucify 
the  Lord  of  life. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  general  dispersion  and  ruin  of 
the  people,  a  tenth  part  was  to  remain  in  the  land ;  but 
even  this  scanty  remnant  was  to  undergo  a  repeated  de- 
struction. Nevertheless  the  nation  itself  was  to  be  pre- 
served in  the  midst  of  its  calamities  ;  and,  although  fre- 
quently undergoing  an  almost  total  excision,  was  still  to 
shoot  forth  again  like  young  twigs  from  the  stump  of  an 
oak  that  has  been  cut  down.  The  passage,  in  which  this 
part  of  the  prediction  is  contained,  "  though  somewhat 
obscure,  and  variously  explained  by  various  interpreters, 
yet,  I  think,  has  been  made  so  clear  by  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  prophecy,  that  there  remains  little  room  to 
doubt  of  the  sense  of  it.  When  Nebuchadnezzer  had 
carried  away  the  greater  and  better  part  of  the  people  in- 
to captivity,  there  was  yet  a  tenth  remaining  in  the  land, 
the  poorer  sort,  left  to  be  vine  dressers  and  husbandmen 
under  Gedaliah* ;  and  the  dispersed  Jews  gathered  them- 
selves together,  and  returned  to  himf  :  yet  even  these, 
fleeing  into  Egypt  after  the  death  of  Gedaliah,  contrar}^ 
to  the  warning  of  God  given  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
miserably  perished  there.  Again,  in  the  subsequent  and 
more  remarkable  completion  of  the  prophecy  in  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  and  the  dissolution  of  the  common- 
wealth by  the  Romans,  when  the  Jews^  after  the  loss  of 
above  a  million  of  men,  had  increased  from  the  scanty  re- 
sidue that  w^as  left  of  them,  and  had  become  very  nume- 
rous again  in  their  country ;  Hadrian,  provoked  by  their 
rebellious  behaviour,  slew  above  half  a  million  more  of 
them,  and  a  second  time  almost  extirpated  the  nation. 
Yet,  after  these  signal  and  almost  universal  destructions 
of  that  nation,  and  after  so  many  other  repeated  exter- 
mmations  and  massacres  of  them,   in  different  times  and 

*  2  Kings  XXV.  12,  22.  \  Jer.  xl.  12. 


m 

on  various  occasions  since,  we  yet  see,  with  astonish- 
ment, that  the  stock  still  remains,  from  which  God,  ac- 
cording to  his  promise  frequently  given  by  his  prophets, 
will  cause  his  people  to  shoot  forth  again  and  to  flourish*." 


PROPHECY  V. 

The  birth  of  Christ — His  second  advent — The  blessings  of  his  mil- 
lennian  kingdom — The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Israel — The 
exhaustion  of  the  mystic  Euphrates  and  Nile — The  overthrow  of 
the  Antichristian  sovereign  of  the  mystic  Babylon  in  the  land  of 
Palestine- 
Isaiah  xi.  1.  And  there  shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of 
the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch  shall  grow  out  of  his 
roots  :  2.  And  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him, 
the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding,  the  Spiiit  of 
counsel  and  might,  the  Spirit  of  Knowledge  and  of  the 
fear  of  the  Lord ;  3.  And  shall  make  him  of  quick  un- 
derstanding in  the  fear  of  the  Lord :  and  he  shall  not 
judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes,  neither  reprove  after 
the  hearing  of  his  ears :  4.  But  with  righteousness  shall 
he  judge  the  poor,  and  with  equity  shall  he  work  con- 
viction in  the  meek  of  the  eaith  :  and  he  shall  smite  the 
earth  with  the  blast  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the  breath  of 
his  lips  he  shall  slay  the  wicked  one.  5.  And  righteous- 
ness shall  be  the  girdle  of  his  loins,  and  faithfulness  the 
girdle  of  his  reins.  6.  The  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the 
Iamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid :  and 
the  calf,  and  the  young  lion,  and  the  fatling  together ; 
and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them.  7.  And  the  cow  and 
the  bear  shall  feed  together ;  their  young  ones  shall  lie 
down  together  ;  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox. 
8.  And  the  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the 
asp,  and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  cock- 

*  Bp.  Lowtli's  Isaiah  in  loc.  See  also  IMr.  Lowtli  in  loc.  *•  We  ought,"  says 
one  of  the  orators  in  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim  at  Paris,  "  to  return  our  thanks 
to  Providence,  who  has  not  suffered  that  the  aged  tree  should  be  torn  up  by 
the  roots,  though  it  has  often  permitted  that  its  branches  should  severely  suf- 
fer."    Trans,  of  Paris.  Sanhed.  p.  165. 


63 

atrice  den.  9.  Tliey  shall  not  hurt,  nor  destroy,  in  all 
my  holy  mountain ;  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  that  cover  the  depths  of 
the  sea. 

10.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  the  root  of 
Jesse,  which  standeth  for  an  ensign  to  the  peoples,  unto 
him  shall  the  nations  repair,  and  his  resting-place  shall  be 
glorious.  11.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that 
the  Lord  will  again  put  forth  his  hand  the  second  time, 
to  recover  the  remnant  of  his  people  diat  remaineth,  from 
Assyria,  and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros,  and  from 
Cush,  and  from  Elam,  and  from  Shinar,  and  from  Ha- 
math,  and  from  the  isles  of  the  west.  12.  And  he  shall 
lift  up  a  signal  to  the  nations,  and  shall  assemble  the  out- 
easts  of  Israel,  and  gather  together  the  dispersed  of  Judali 
from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  13.  And  the  jealousy 
of  Ephraim  shall  cease  ;  and  the  enmity  of  Judah  shall 
be  no  more  :  Ephraim  shall  not  be  jealous  of  Judah  ;  and 
Judah  shall  not  be  at  enmity  with  Ephraim.  14.  But 
they  shall  invade  the  borders  of  the  Philistines  westward; 
together  shall  they  spoil  the  children  of  the  east:  on  Edom 
and  Moab  they  shall  lay  their  hand ;  and  the  children  of 
Amnion  shall  obey  them.  15.  And  the  Lord  shall  smite 
with  a  drought  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea;  and  he 
shall  shake  his  hand  over  the  river  with  his  vehement 
wind  :  and  he  shall  smite  it  into  seven  streams,  and  make 
men  go  over  dry-shod.  16.  And  there  shall  be  a  high- 
way for  the  remnant  of  his  people  which  shall  be  left  from 
Assyria ;  as  it  was  to  Israel  in  the  day  that  he  came  up 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

xii.  1.  And  in  that  day  thou  shalt  say,  O  Lord,  I  will 
praise  thee,  though  thou  wast  angry  with  me,  thine 
anger  is  turned  away,  and  thou  comfortedst  me.  2.  Be- 
hold, God  is  my  salvation;  I  will  trust,  and  not  be 
afraid  :  for  my  strength,  and  my  song,  is  Jehovah  ;  and 
he  is  become  unto  me  salvation.  3.  And,  when  ye  shall 
draw  waters  with  joy  from  the  fountains  of  salvation ; 
4.  In  that  day  ye  shall  say.  Praise  the  Lord,  call  upon 
his  name,  declare  his  doings  among  the  people,  make 
mention  that  his  name  is  exalted.  5.  Sing  ye  unto  the 
Lord;  for  he  hath  wrought  a  stupendous  M'ork  :  this  is 


64 

made  manifest  in  all  the  earth.  6.  Cry  aloud,  and  shout 
for  joy,  O  inhabitress  of  Zion  ;  for  great  in  the  midst  of 
thee  is  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 

xiii.  1.  The  burden  of  Babylon,  which  Isaiah  the  son 
of  Amoz  did  see.  2.  Lift  ye  up  a  banner  upon  the  high 
mountain,  exalt  the  voice  unto  them,  shake  the  hand,  that 
they  may  go  into  the  gates  of  the  nobles.  3.  I  have 
given  a  charge  to  mine  enrolled  warriors  ;  I  have  even  call- 
ed my  strong  ones  to"  execute  my  wrath  ;  those  that  ex- 
ult in  my  greatness.  4.  A  sound  of  a  multitude  in  the 
mountains,  as  of  a  great  people  !  A  sound  of  the  tumult 
of  kingdoms,  of  nations  gathered  together  !  The  Lord  of 
hosts  mustereth  the  host  for  the  battle.  5.  They  come 
from  a  distant  land,  from  the  end  of  the  heavens ;  the 
Lord,  and  the  instruments  of  his  wrath  to  destroy  the 
whole  land.  6.  Howl  ye,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at 
hand :  it  shall  come  as  a  destruction  from  the  Almighty. 
7.  Therefore  shall  all  hands  be  slackened ;  and  every 
man's  heart  shall  melt ;  and  they  shall  be  afraid.  8.  Pangs 
and  sorrows  shall  take  hold  of  them  ;  they  shall  be  in 
pain  as  a  woman  that  travaileth  :  they  shall  look  one  upon 
another  with  astonishment ;  their  countenances  shall  be 
like  flames  of  fire.  9.  Behold,  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Cometh,  inexorable  ;  even  indignation,  and  burning 
wrath :  to  make  the  land  a  desolation  ;  and  her  sinners 
he  shall  destroy  out  of  her.  10.  Yea,  the  stars  of  hea- 
ven, and  the  constellations  thereof,  shall  not  send  forth 
their  light :  the  sun  is  dai'kened  at  his  going  forth,  and 
the  moon  shall  not  cause  her  light  to  shine.  11.  And 
I  will  visit  the  world  for  its  evil,  and  the  wicked  for  their 
iniquity  :  and  I  will  put  an  end  to  the  arrogance  of  the 
proud  ;  and  I  will  bring  down  the  haughtiness  of  the  ter- 
rible—19.  And  Babylon  shall  become,  she  that  was  the 
beauty  of  kingdoms,  the  glory  of  the  pride  of  the  Chal- 
deans, as  the  overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  by  the 
hand  of  God.  20.  It  shall  not  be  inhabited  for  ever  ;  nor 
shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation  :  neither 
shall  the  Arabian  pitch  his  tent  there :  neither  shall  the 
shepherds  make  their  folds  there.  21.  But  there  shall 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  deserts  lodge  ;  and  howling  mon- 
sters shall  fill  their  houses :  and  there  shall  the  daughters 


65 

of  the  ostrich  dwell ;  and  there  shall  the  satyrs  hold  their 
revels.  22.  And  wolves  shall  howl  to  one  another  in 
their  palaces  ;  and  dragons  in  their  voluptuous  pavilions. 
And  her  time  is  near  to  come ;  and  her  days  shall  not  be 
prolonged. 

xiv.  1.  For  the  Lord  will  have  compassion  on  Jacob, 
and  will  yet  choose  Israel.  And  he  shall  give  them  rest 
upon  their  own  land  :  and  the  stranger  shall  be  joined  unto 
them,  and  shall  cleave  unto  the  house  of  Jacob.  2.  And 
the  nations  shall  take  them,  and  bring  them  into  their 
own  place  ;  and  the  house  of  Israel  shall  possess  them  in 
the  land  of  the  Lord,  as  servants,  and  as  handmaids  : 
and  they  shall  take  them  captive,  whose  captives  they 
were  ;  and  they  shall  rule  over  their  oppressors. 

3.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  day  that  the  Lord 
shall  give  thee  rest  from  thy  sorrow,  and  from  thy  fear, 
and  from  the  hard  bondage  wherein  thou  wast  made  to 
serve  ;  4.  That  thou  shalt  take  up  this  parable  against  the 
king  of  Babylon,  and  shalt  say  ; 

How  hath  the  oppressor  ceased !  the  exactress  of  gold 
ceased  !  5-  The  Lord  hath  broken  the  staff  of  the  wick- 
ed,  the  sceptre  of  the  rulers.  6.  He,  that  smote  the  peo- 
ples in  wrath,  with  a  stroke  unremitted ;  he,  that  ruled 
the  nations  in  anger,  is  persecuted,  and  none  hindereth. 
7.  The  whole  earth  is  at  rest,  is  quiet ;  they  burst  forth 
into  a  joyful  shout.  8.  Even  the  fir-trees  rejoice  over 
thee,  the  cedars  of  Libanus :  Since  thou  art  fallen,  no 
feller  is  come  up  against  us.  9.  Hades  from  beneath 
is  moved  because  of  thee,  to  meet  thee  at  thy  coming : 
he  rouseth  for  thee  the  mighty  dead,  all  the  great  chiefs 
of  the  earth  ;  he  maketh  to  rise  up  from  their  thrones  all 
the  kings  of  the  nations.  10.  All  of  them  shall  accost 
thee,  and  say  unto  thee  :  Art  thou,  even  thou  too,  be- 
come weak  as  we  ?  Art  thou  made  like  unto  us?  11.  Is 
then  thy  pride  brought  down  to  the  grave ;  the  sound  of 
thy  sprightly  instruments?  Is  the  vermin  become  thy 
couch,,  and  the  earth-worm  thy  covering  ?  12.  How  art 
thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  day-star,  son  of  the  morning ! 
art  cut  down  to  the  earth,  thou  that  didst  subdue  the  na- 
tions !  13.  For  thou  didst  say  in  thy  heart :  I  will  ascend 
the  heavens ;  above  the  stars  of  God  I  will  exalt  my 
9 


66 

throne  ;  and  I  will  sit  upon  the  mount  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence, on  the  sides  of  the  north  :  14.  I  will  ascend  above 
the  heights  of  the  clouds ;  I  will  be  like  the  most  High. 
15.  But  thou  shalt  be  brought  down  to  the  grave,  to  the 
sides  of  the  pit.  16.  Those,  that  see  thee,  shall  look  atten- 
tively at  thee  ;  they  shall  well  consider  thee  :  Is  this  the 
man,  that  made  the  earth  to  tremble  ;  that  shook  the 
kingdoms?  17.  That  made  the  world  like  a  desert ;  that 
destroyed  the  cities  ?  that  never  dismissed  his  captives  to 
their  own  home  ?  18.  All  the  kings  of  the  nations,  all  of 
them,  lie  down  in  glory,  each  in  his  own  sepulchre  :  19. 
But  thou  art  cast  out  of  the  grave,  as  the  tree  abominated ; 
clothed  with  the  slain,  with  the  pierced  by  the  sword, 
Avith  them  that  go  down  to  the  stones  of  the  pit ;  as  a 
trodden  carcase.  20.  Thou  shalt  not  be  joined  unto  them 
in  burial ;  because  thou  hast  destroyed  thy  countrj^,  tliou 
hast  slain  thy  people  :  the  seed  of  evil  doers  shall  never 
be  renowned.  21.  Prepare  ye  slaughter  for  his  children, 
for  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers  ;  lest  they  rise,  and  possess 
the  earth  ;  and  fill  the  face  of  the  world  with  cities.  22. 
For  I  will  arise  against  them,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  and 
I  will  cut  oft'  from  Babylon  the  name,  and  the  remnant, 
and  the  son,  and  the  son's  son,  saith  the  Lord  ;  23.  And 
I  will  make  it  an  inheritance  for  the  porcupine,  and  pools 
of  water ;  and  I  will  plunge  it  in  the  mirj^  gulph  of  de- 
struction, saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  24.  The  Lord  of  hosts 
hath  sworn,  saying  :  Surely,  as  I  have  devised,  so  shall 
it  be  ;  and,  as  I  have  purposed,  that  thing  shall  stand  : 
25.  To  crush  the  Assyrian  in  my  land,  and  to  trample 
him  on  my  mountains.  Then  shall  his  yoke  depart  from 
off  them  ;  and  his  burthen  shall  be  removed  from  off" 
their  shoulder. 

26.  This  is  the  decree,  Vvdiich  is  determined  on  the 
whole  earth  ;  and  this  is  the  hand,  which  is  stretched  out 
over  the  nations.  27.  For  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  de- 
creed ;  and  who  shall  disannul  it  ?  And  it  is  his  hand, 
that  is  stretched  out ;  and  who  shall  turn  it  back  ? 

COMMENTARY. 

This  prediction  affords  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
examples  of  double  prophecy,  that  is  to  be  met  with  in  the 


67 

whole  of  the  sacred  vohime.  The  first  advent  of  Christ 
is  here  connected  with  his  second  advent ;  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  literal  Babylon^  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
mystical  Babylon,  For,  unless  the  two-fold  mode  of  in- 
terpretation  be  adopted,  we  shall  find  it  impossible  to 
produce  any  consistent  exposition  of  the  whole  prophecy. 

Isaiah  begins  with  foretelling  the  birth  of  Christ  from 
the  depressed  and  impoverished  royal  house  of  David. 
He  thence  proceeds  to  describe  his  character;  and  in- 
troduces as  one  particular  of  it,  a  circumstance,  which 
will  not  be  accomplished  till  the  times  of  the  second 
advent.  Our  Lord  is  not  only  to  judge  tlie  poor  with 
righteousness  and  to  convince  the  meek  with  equity ; 
but  he  is  likewise  to  smite  the  earth  with  the  rod  of  his 
mouth,  and  Avith  the  breath  of  his  lips  to  slay  the  wicked 
one.  This  exactly  accords  with  the  prediction  of  St. 
John,  that  he  shall  smite  with  a  sharp  sword,  that  goeth 
out  of  his  mouth,  the  congi'cgated  vassals  of  Antichrist, 
the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth  *" ;  and  with  the  parallel  pre- 
diction of  St.  Paul,  that  he  shall  consume  that  wicked 
one,  the  papal  man  of  sin,  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth, 
and  destroy  him  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming  f. 

Havmg  described  the  character  of  the  Messiah,  Isaiah 
next  pourtrays  in  glowing  colours  the  blessings  of  his 
kingdom.  The  wild  beasts  are  to  lie  down  with  the  tame, 
and  are  to  divest  themselves  of  their  savage  natures.  The 
ox  is  fearlessly  to  graze  by  the  side  of  the  lion,  and  the 
leopard  is  to  dandle  the  kid.  Beautiful  as  is  the  imagery 
of  this  celebrated  passage  J,  I  cannot  consider  it  in  the 

*  Rev.  xix.  15, 19. 

•}•  2  Thessal.  ii.  8.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  j^eivs  themselves  understand 
this  prophecy  of  Isaiah  to  relate  to  the  final  downfal  of  the  Ro'inan  evipirCf 
at  which  period  they  rig^htly  believe  that  their  restoration  will  take  place. 
"  How  much  soever  the  man  of  sin  may  be  exalted,  and  how  long'  soever  he 
may  reign,  yet  at  last  the  Lord  shall  consume  htm  with  the  spirit  of  his  inoutk^ 
and  shall  destroy  him  ivith  the  brightness  of  his  coming.  This  is  partly  taken, 
from  the  prophet  Isaiah  (xi.  4.),  and 'with  the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay 
the  wicked  one :  where  the  jfews,  as  Lightfoot  observes,  put  an  emphasis  upon 
that  word  in  the  prophet  the  wicked  one,  as  it  appeareth  by  the  Chaldee  para- 
phrast,  who  hath  uttered  it  He  shall  destroy  the  wicked  Roman"  Bp.  New- 
ton's Dissert,  xxit.  3.     See  also  Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

+  Independent  of  those  ancient  poets,  Theocritus,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  and 
of  some  of  the  Arabian  and  Persian  poets,  whom  Bp.  Lowth  has  noticed  as 
depicting  with  similar  imagery  the  golden  age,  two  at  least,  who  have  writ- 
ten since  the  Christian  era,  have  attempted  to  copy  the  beautiful  strains  of 


6% 

light  of  a  mere  poetical  description  of  a  golden  age.  In 
the  shadoAvy  dispensation  of  the  Mosaical  law,  a  distinc- 
tion was  made  between  clean  and  unclean  meats.  Of  the 
one  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  eat :  from  the  other  they 
were  required  to  abstain.  Now  it  will  be  found  upon  ex- 
amination, that  the  animals,  whose  flesh  they  were  forbid- 
den to  taste,  were  usually  typical  of  some  vices  practised 
by  the  idolatrous ;  and,  pursuant  to  the  type,  they  care- 
fully withdrew  from  the  fellowship  and  company  of  the 
antitype,  the  heathen  nations.  Thus,  not  to  notice  other 
prohibited  animals,  liofjSy  wolves,  bears,  and  leopards, 
were  fit  emblems  of  rapacity,  cruelty,  and  persecution. 
Hence  their  flesh  was  forbidden  in  the  Mosaical  law ;  and 
hence  Daniel  uses  some  of  them  to  symbolize  the  perse- 
cuting and  idolatrous  empires  of  the  Gentiles*.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  kinds  of  food,  which  the  Jews  were  allow- 
ed to  eat,  were  generally  the  flesh  of  certain  animals 
emblematical  of  some  virtue  ;  as  the  ox,  oi  patience  and 
industry  ;  the  sheep,  of  meekness  and  hmocence.  Conse- 
quently, as  ivild  and  ravenous  beasts  were  typical  of  the 
Gentiles,  so  tame  and  domestic  animals  were  considered 
as  proper  symbols  of  the  Church  of  God,  at  that  time 
confined  to  the  Jews\.  Nor  is  this  the  mere  fancy  of  a 
visionary  commentator :  we  have  the  express  warrant  of 
inspired  authority  for  adoi)ting  such  an  opinion.  When 
God  was  about  to  send  St.  Peter  to  the  devout  Roman 
centurion  Cornelius,  foreseeing  his  scruples,  he  conde- 
scended to  remove  them  by  a  vision,  manifestly  explana- 

the  Hebrew  bard  ;  Nonnus,  and  Pope.  The  Messiah  of  the  latter  is  well 
known  ;  the  classical  reader  will  find  the  passage  of  tiie  former,  to  which  I 
allude,  in  the  4lst  book  of  his  Dionysiacs.  The  following  is  a  traiislation 
of  it: 

The  tawny  lion  for  a  wliile  forg;ot 

His  nature,  and  with  wanton  gambols  play'd 

Around  tlie  fearless  ox ;  tlje  jjenerous  steed 

In  •jraceftil  cur\-ets  testified  his  joy; 

The  spotted  panther  froliek'd  near  the  have; 

Anil  close  beside  the  wolf,  the  blithsome  kid 

Rejoic'd  secure,  and  gaily  play'd  at  will 

His  wayward  fancies. 

.  *  See  Dan.  vli. 

I  For  the  reasons  of  the  seeming'  exception  in  Dan.  viii,  where  two  cleaft 
animals,  the  ram  and  the  goat,  are  used  to  symbolize  the  Persian  and  il/rtrf»- 
(Ionian  empires.    See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xv. 


69 

tory  of  this  very  prophecy  of  Isaiah.  The  Apostle  beheld 
a  great  sheet  descending  from  heaven  full  of  all  manner 
of  animals,  both  wild  beasts  and  tame  beasts,  both  rep- 
tiles and  birds :   and,  while  he  was  thus  looking  upon 
objects  which  must  have  been  an  abomination  to  a  pious 
Jew,  he  suddenly  heard  a  voice  commanding  him  to  kill 
and.  eat.    To  this  command  he  objected,  on  the  plea  that 
he  had  never  eaten  any  thing  forbidden  by  the  law,  and 
therefore  accounted  profane   and  unclean :  but  he  was 
charged  in  return  not  to  presume  to  call  that  unclean, 
which  God  had  cleansed.  Now  in  this  vision  of  St.  Peter, 
no  mention  whatsoever  is  made  either  of  the  Je:ws  or  of 
the  Gentiles,  except  under  their  types,  the  clean  and  un- 
clean animals :  and  yet  he  found  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing its  meaning.     He  conceived  it  to  import,  as  it 
undoubtedly  does  import,  that  henceforth  the  Jews  and 
the  Gentiles  were  to  form  only  one  Church  :  and  accord- 
ingly baptized  Cornelius  without  any  further  hesitation. 
Precisely  the  same  is  the  meaning  of  this  prophecy  of 
Isaiah.     It  began  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  day  of  the  first 
advent,  when  the  converted  Gentiles  were  added  to  the 
Apostles  and  to  such  other  of  the  Jexvs  as  had  embraced 
Chistianity.      But  this  is  only  its  inchoate  and  imperfect 
accomplishment :  nor  will  it  be  altogether  fulfilled,  till 
the  Gentiles  shall  have  ceased  to  destroy  throughout  the 
whole  of  God's  holy  mountain,*  till  both  Judah  and  Israel 
shall  be  restored  and  converted,  and  till  the  earth  shall  be 
full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea  *. 

Accordingly  the  prophet  goes  on  to  inform  us,  that  in. 
that  day  the  root  of  Jesse  shall  be  an  ensign  unto  the  peo- 

*  The  reader  will  find  tins  point  very  fully  and  excellently  discussed  in  the 
third  lecture  on  the  figurative  lavguage  of  the  HoU  Scriptures  by  the  late  Rev. 
W.  Jones.  It  is  woi'thy  of  notice,  that  the  Law  itself,  no  less  than  the  Gos- 
pel, teaches  us  that  the  distinction  befween  clean  and  unclean  meats  was  allusive 
to  the  distinction  befuieen  the  ye'ws  and  the  Gentiles.  "  Ye  sh:  11  not  walk  in  the 
manners  of  the  nations  wliich  1  cast  out  before  you — 1  am  fhe  Lord  your  God, 
which  have  separated  you  from  other  people  ;  ye  shall  therefore  put  a  differ- 
ence between  clean  beasts  and  unclean,  and  between  unclean  fowls  and  clean. 
— and  ye  shall  be  holy  unto  me  ;  for  I,  the  Lord,  am  holy,  and  have  severed 
you  from  other  people  that  ye  should  be  mine."  (Levit.  xx.  23.)  Mr.  Jones 
justly  remarks,  that  "this  passage  puts  the  moral  intention  of  the  distinction 
of  meats  out  of  dispute,  and  is  indeed  a  direct  affirmation  of  it :  the  people  of 
God  were  to  avoid  unclean  meats,  as  a  sign  that  he  had  separated  them  from 
unclean  Gentiles  to  be  holy  unto  himself." 


70 

pies,  tfiat  the  nations  shall  repair  unto  him,  and  that  his 
resting-place  shall  be  glorious.  Whether  by  this  ensign 
we  are  to  understand  the  manifestatioii  of  the  Shechinah 
immediately  before  the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  to  w  hich 
distant  nations  will  humbly  repair,  bringing  along  with 
them  the  dispersion  of  Israel;  or  the  metaphorical  unfurl- 
ing of  the  banner  of  the  cross,  may  perhaps  admit  of  a 
doubt.  The  last  idea  however,  namely  that  of  a  general 
dijfusiofi  of  Christianity,  is  necessarily  involved  in  the 
former.  To  this  ensign  both  Je^vs  and  Gentiles  will  ulti- 
mately seek  :  for  the  whole  Israel  of  God,  Ephraim  as 
well  as  Judah,  will  be  converted  and  restored ;  and  the 
whole  Gentile  world,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichris- 
tian  faction,  will  embrace  the  profession  of  pure  and  vi- 
tal religion*.  In  order  as  it  were,  that  we  may  not  mis- 
take the  restoration  here  predicted  for  the  restoration  from 
the  literal  Babylon,  Isaiah  carefully  teaches  us,  that  the 
Lord  shall  put  forth  his  hand  a  second  time  to  recover  the 
remnant  of  his  peoplef  ;  and  that,  not  merely  from  As- 
syria and  other  eastern  regions,  but  likewise  from  the 
isles  of  the  west,  or  the  maritime  regions  of  Europe.  He 
moreover  teaches  us  that  Ephraim  and  Judah  shall  both 
be  restored  ;  that  their  former  enmity  shall  be  done  away  ; 
and  that  henceforth  they  shall  jointly  form  only  one  na- 
tion. And  he  adds  certain  circumstances  peculiar  to  the 
final  resto7-ation  of  Israel.  Edom,  Moab,  and  Ammon, 
which  had  escaped  out  of  the  hand  of  AntichristX,  are  to 
become  subject,  both  temporally  and  spiritually,  I  appre- 

*  "  Wlien  the  ten  tribes  made  a  separation  from  yuda/i,  Ephraim  was  look- 
ed upon  as  the  principal  tribe  of  that  separation,  and  is  often  put  iov  Israel,  as 
that  was  a  distinct  kingdom  from  yudah.  Thus  the  word  is  taken  here  ;  and 
the  verse  imports,  that  the  quarrels  and  dissentions  which  used  to  be  be- 
t.ween  those  two  rival  kingdoms  shall  be  quite  at  an  end,  and  they  shall  both 
be  governed  by  one  king,  the  Messiah.  We  may  further  observe,  that  in 
most  of  the  prophecies,  when  the  general  restoration  of  */ie  ye^us  is  foretold, 
Israel  msH  judah  are  joined  together,  as  equally  sharers  in  the  blessing." 
Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xi.  13. 

f  •«  I  take  tliis  part  of  the  chapter,"  says  Mr.  Lowth  very  justly,  "from  the 
tenth  verse  en  ward,  to  foretell  those  glorious  times  of  the  Church  which  shall 
be  ushered  in  by  the  restoration  of  the  ^eivish  nation  ,-  when  they  shall  em- 
"brace  the  Gospel,  and  be  restored  to  their  own  country  from  the  several  dis- 
persions where  they  are  scattered.  This  remarkable  scene  of  Providence  is 
plainly  foretold  by  most  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  St. 
Paul  in  the  New."    Comment,  on  Isaiah  :xi.  11- 

tJDan.  xi.41. 


71 

hend,  to  the  house  of  Jacob  * :  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian 
sea,  or  the  widely  overflowifig  Nile,  is  to  be  dried  upf:  and 
the  river  of  Assyria,  or  the  great  river  Euphrates,  is  to 
be  smitten  into  seven  streams,  so  that  the  ancient  people 
of  the  Lord  may  pass  over  it  dry-shod.  In  the  symboli- 
cal language  of  prophecy,  rivers  denote  bodies  politic : 
whence  the  drying  up  of  rivers  signifies  the  overthrow  of 
those  bodies  politic  xvhich  they  typify.  Accordingly,  in  the 
parallel  passage  of  Zechariah,  this  exhaustion  of  the  mys- 
tical Nile  and  Euphrates  is  so  explained  J.  We  are 
taught,  that  these  two  political  rivers  are  to  be  dried  up, 
in  order  that  there  may  be  a  highway  for  the  relnnant  of 
Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Assyria  :  but,  whether  they  will 
be  dried  up  precisely  at  the  same  time,  does  not  appear 
either  from  Isaiah  or  Zechariah.  We  may  gather  how- 
ever from  other  prophecies  which  treat  of  the  same  sub- 
ject, that  the  exhaustion  of  the  Euphrates  will  precede 
the  exhaustion  of  the  Nile :  though,  how  great  an  inter- 
val there  will  be  between  the  two  events,  is  no  where  de- 
finitely said.  St.  John  informs  us,  that  the  Euphrates 
will  be  dried  up  under  the  sixth  vial,  that  a  way  may 
be  prepared  for  the  kings  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  :  and 
he  places  the  expedition  and  destruction  of  Antichrist  sub- 
sequent to  it,  under  the  seventh  vial,  yet  without  making 
any  mention  of  Egypt  or  the  Nile.     Daniel,  on  the  other 

*  It  is  possible  however  that  these  nations  ought  to  be  understood  mysti- 
cally, as  typifying"  the  various  members  of  the  Ant i christian  confederacy.  Such 
an  interpretation  of  the  passage  is  preferred  by  Mr.  Lowth  ;  and  it  accords 
no  doubt  with  various  prophecies  that  foretell  the  restoration  of  the  yews. 
"  These  people,"  says  he,  "  were  all  boi-derers  upon  Palestine,  and  took  all 
occasions  to  shew  their  spite  and  111  will  against  the  yenxs.  Upon  which 
account,  in  the  prophetical  dialect,  tliey  are  often  used  in  a  general  sense  foi' 
the  enemies  of  God's  truth  and  people.  The  meaning  therefore  of  the  place 
is,  that  God's  people  should  have  a  complete  victory  over  their  enemies; 
whether  they  be  the  associates  oi  Antichrist,  or  of  whatsoever  other  denomi- 
nation."    Comment,  on  Isaiah  xi.  14. 

t  Roth  here,  and  in  a  succeeding  prophecy  (Isaiah  xix.  5.),  the  Egyptian  sea 
appears  to  mean  the  Nile,  whether  literal  or  symbolical,  which,  at  the  period 
of  its  overflowing,  covers  the  country  like  a  sea.  (See  Mr.  Lowth  in  Loc.) 
This  language  is  probably  borrowed  from  the  phraseology  of  the  Egyptians 
themselves,  who  were  wont,  as  we  are  informed  by  Diodorus  Sicidus,- to 
style  their  river  the  Ocean.  '0/  yu^  AtyvTrliot  vanci^na-iv  Qxexvov  eivxi  rev 
7rx^'  xvleig  velx/Mv  N«Aoy.  (Blbl.  Hist.  L.  1.  p.  12.)  It  is  observable  how- 
ever, that  Jeremiah  in  a  similar  manner  calls  the  Euphrates  the  sea,  when 
predicting  the  future  state  of  Babylon  in  consequence  of  the  mannerin  w^ich 
it  was  taken  by  Cyrus.  Compare  Jerem,  li,  42.  with  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  x. 
vol.  I.  p.  298,  309. 

-.  Zechar.x.  11. 


72 

hand,  does  not  take  any  notice  of  the  exliaustion  of  the 
Euphrates  ;  but  he  gives  a  very  minute  account  of  the 
expedition  of  Antichrist^  and  represents  his  conquest  of 
E^ypt  as  being  one  of  his  very  latest  exploits.  Hence  it 
is  plain,  that,  since  the  Euphrates  is  to  be  dried  up  pre- 
vious to  the  expedition  of  Antichrist^  and  since  Egypt  is 
to  fall  into  his  hands  during  the  cowse  of  that  expedition, 
the  two  events,  which  Isaiah  and  Zechariah  connect  to- 
gether, are  not  contemporary  ;  though,  how  long  the  one 
will  precede  the  other,  can  only  be  determined  by  the 
event. 

As  for  the  great  river  Euphrates,  it  symbolizes,  as 
we  may  conclude  very  unequivocally  from  the  Apoca- 
lypse, the  Ottoman  empire,  of  which  Assyria  w^as  the  cra- 
dle, and  of  which  it  still  remains  a  principal  province  : 
and,  by  comparing  the  prophecy  of  St.  John  respecting 
its  exhaustion  with  the  parallel  prophecies  of  Isaiah  and 
Zechariah  respecting  the  same  circumstance,  we  may  de- 
termine, whh  perhaps  as  much  certainty  as  matters  of 
this  nature  are  capable  of,  that  the  kings  from  the  east 
mean  the  dispersed  of  Israel.  St.  John  informs  us,  that 
the  great  river  Euphrates  will  be  dried  up  previous  to 
the  expedition  of  Antichrist,  in  order  to  prepare  a  way 
for  the  kings  from  the  east :  Isaiah  and  Zechariah  concur 
in  declaring,  that  both  the  Egyptian  sea  or  the  A' He,  and 
the  river  by  which  name  the  Jeivs  w^ere  AAont  simply  and 
by  way  of  eminence  to  s|7eak  of  the  Euphrates,  will  be 
dried  up,  in  order  that  there  may  be  a  highway  for  the 
remnant  of  God's  people  from  Egypt  and  from  Assyria. 
Since  then  this  exhaustion  of  the  Euphrates,  predicted 
alike  by  Isaiah,  Zechariah,  and  St.  John,  is  manifestly  to 
take  place  in  the  last  days,  or  during  the  tyrannical  reign 
of  Atitichrist ;  and  since  it  is  equally  to  prepare  a  way 
for  the  kings  from  the  east,  and  for  the  remnant  of  Israel 
from  the  eastern  region  of  .Assyria :  we  seem  to  be  com- 
pelled, as  it  were,  to  adopt  the  conclusion,  that  the  kings 
from  the  east  are  the  remnant  of  Israel. 

That  the  river  spoken  of  by  Isaiah  and  Zechariah,  is 
in  those  passages,  no  less  than  in  many  others  ^,  the  Eu- 

*  See  1  Kin^s  Iv.  21— Psalm  Ixxii.  8.— Psalm  Ixxx.  11.  in  which  three  pas- 
sag'es,  the  dominions  of  Solomon  are  characterized,  as  extending  from  the 
'■iiifr,  that  is  the  river  Euphrates,  to  the  sea  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  tlie 


73 

phrates  and  not  the  Nile,  is  abundantly  evident  from  the 
context.  Zechariah  explains  the  smiting  of  the  river, 
and  the  sea,  by  the  bringing  doivn  the  pride  of  Assyria, 
and  by  causing  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  to  depart  away.  And 
both  he  and  Isaiah  alike  represent  this  exhaustion  as  be- 
ing preparatory  to  the  return  of  Israel  out  of  Assyria  and 
Egypt.  Now  it  is  obvious,  since  the  smiting  of  the  sea 
and  the  river  denotes  literally  the  humbling  of  Egypt  and 
Assyria,  that  the  sea  must  mean  the  Nile,  and  that  the 
river  must  mean  the  Euphrates.  And  the  matter  will  be 
yet  more  evident,  when  we  consider  the  consequences  of 
the  smiting.  It  was  to  prepai'e  a  way  for  Israel,  not  only 
out  of  Egypt,  but  likewise  out  of  Assyria.  But  how 
could  the  S7niting  of  the  Nile,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
overthrow  of  the  Egyptian  government,  prepare  a  way 
for  Israel  to  come  out  of  Assyria  ?  Hence  it  is  plain,  that 
the  sea  means  one  thing,  and  the  river  another :  and  hence 
the  Chaldee  Paraphrast  very  sensibly  explains  what  is 
simply,  termed  the  river  by  the  river  Euphrates^'.  The 
purport  therefore  of  the  prophecy  is  this  :  that,  by  the 
overthrow  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  and  by  the  disso- 
lution of  the  then  existhig  go^^ernment  of  Egypt  (pro- 
bably the  Mamaluc  government),  a  way  will  be  pre- 
pared for  the  return  of  the  lost  ten  tribes.  By  what  power 
the  Ottoman  empire  will  be  subverted,  we  are  not  posi- 
tively  told  ;  but  we  learn  from  Daniel,  that  the  govern- 
ment of  Egypt  will  be  overturned  by  Antichrist  after  h^ 
has  overrun  Palestine. 

Whether  the  division  of  the  jnystic  Euphrates  into  ss-^ 
ven  streams  denotes  some  septipartite  divisioji  of  the  Tur- 
kish empire  at  the  period  of  its  overthrow ,  or  whether 

earth.  I  think  there  are  passag'es  in  Scripture,  which  afford  ns  some  war- 
rant for  believing,  that  these  will  likewise  be  the  limits  of  Israel  after  the 
final  restoration.  Compare  Psalm  Ixxii.  8.  with  Zechar.  ix.  9,  10. — Isaiah  xi.  14. 
— xlix.  19,  20. — and  Gen.  xv.  18.  The  extensive  dotnlnions  of  Solomon  seem  to 
be  typical  of  the  same  extensive  doTninions  of  Israel,  when  fully  restored,  and 
united  imder  one  king  the  IMessiah,  of  whom  Solomon  was  only  a  shadow. 

*  "  Elevabit  plagam  fortitudinis  suse  super  Euphratem."  Wolf>i;-ang  Mii^- 
culus  adopts  the  same  interpretation  :  ♦'  Super  fluvium,  id  est,  Euphratem." 
(Wolfgang.  Muse.  Comment,  in  Isaiam  in  loc.)  INIr.  Lowth  thinks  that  the 
Nile  is  intended  by  the  river.  Yet  he  allows,  that  the  drying  up  of  this  river 
imports  the  same  as  the  exhaustion  of  the  Euphrates  in  the  Apocalypse.  If 
such  then  be  the  case,  I  see  not  how  it  is  possible  for  the  river  to  be  any 
•other  than  the  Euphrates.     Comment,  on  Isaiah  si.  1.5,  16. 

10 


74 

tlie  expression  is  only  to  be  generally  understood  as  ex- 
hibiting to  us  the  manner  in  Avhich  a  large  river  may  be 
rendered  insignifictmt  and  shallow  by  conducting  its  wa- 
ters along  six  or  more  additional  artificial  channels*,  it 
would  be  in  vain  at  present  to  attempt  to  determine. 
That  the  overthrow  of  the  Ottoman  monarchy  will  in  the 
hand  of  Providence  be  instrumental  in  bringing  about 
the  restoration  of  the  ten  tribes^  cannot  however,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  me,  be  reasonably  doubted. 

It  may  be  worth  our  while  to  consider,  whether  this 
prophecy,  respecting  the  drijing  up  of  the  Euphrates, 
may  not  receive  a  literal,  no  less  than  a  symbolical,  ac- 
complishment. I  doubt  whether  we  have  any  right  to  in- 
terpret the  prediction  of  St.  John  in  such  a  manner,  be- 
cause he  appears  altogether  to  confine  himself  to  the  lan- 
guage of  symbols!  ;  but  a  greater  latitude  of  exposition 
may  perhaps  be  allowable  in  discussing  a  prophecy  of 
Isaiah  or  Zechariah.  Now  we  know,  that,  \a  hene\'er  the 
Israelites  shall  return  into  tlieir  own  land  from  Assyria 
and  other  more  eastern  regions,  they  niust  necessarily 
cross  the  literal  Euphrates :  and  it  is  very  remarkable, 
that  Isaiah  expressly  compares  their  restoration  from  As- 
syria with  their  ancient  exodus  from  Egypt,  and  attaches 
this  comparison  to  a  prediction  respecting  the  drying  up 
of  the  grea-  river.  A  question  therefore  naturally  arises, 
How  will  the  yet  future  restoration  of  the  Israelites  from 
Assyria  resemble  their  ancient  exodus  from  Egypt,  unless 
lliey  then  miraculously  pass  through  the  Euphrates,  as 
they  heretofore  miraculously  passed  through  the  Red  sea 
iind  the  river  Jordan?  I  can  discover  nothing  absurd, 
either  in  adopting  the  opinion  that  at  the  destruction  of 
Antichrist  there  will  be  a  preternatural  manifestation  of 
God's  glory,  or  in  thinking  it  not  improbable  that  they 
ma}-  be  led  by  the  arm  of  the  Lord  through  the  very 
midst  of  the  Euphrates. 

Having  now   conducted   the  whole   house  of  Israel, 
Ephraim  as  well  as  Judah,  into  their  own  land,  the  pro- 

*  See  Herod.  L   i.  C.  189. 

f  1  of  course  except  a  few  passages  in  the  Apocalypse,  whicli  appear  to 
be  avowedly  descriptive,  and  which  according-ly  have  been  so  understood  by 
most  commentators. 


75 

phet  puts  into  their  mouth  a  solemn  hymn  of  praise  and 
victory.  He  represents  them,  as  giving  thanks  unto  the 
Lord  for  having  turned  away  his  anger  from  them,  and 
for  having  comforted  them ;  as  joyfully  drawing  living 
waters  from  the  fountains  of  salvation  ;  as  celebrating  the 
stupendous  work  of  their  conversion  and  restoration,  a 
work  made  manifest  in  all  the  earth ;  and  as  exulting  in 
the  glorious  appearance  of  the  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of 
Jerusalem.  Such  we  may  conceive  will  be  the  songs  of 
the  ancient  people  of  God,  when  brought  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  crucified  Redeemer,  and  when  forming  the 
eldest  branch  of  the  triumphant  millennian  Church  *. 

The  part  of  the  prophecy,  which  I  have  hitherto  ex- 
amined, may  by  itself  be  considered  as  a  perfect  whole  ; 
inasmuch  as  it  predicts  the  restoration  ofJadah  and  Israel, 
points  out  the  mode  in  which  a  way  will  be  prepared  for 
that  restoration,  hints  at  the  overthrow  of  Ajitichrist,  and 
describes  the  glory  and  happiness  oftheMUlenmum.  Isaiah 
however,  in  a  manner  not  unusual  with  the  ancient  pro- 
phets, of  which  we  shall  hereafter  see  many  instances, 
resumes,  in  the  loth  and  lA-th  chapters,  a  division  of  his 
subject,  conceming  which  he  had  as  yet  spoken  but 
slightly ;   I  mean  the  overthrow  of  the  Antwhistian  con- 
federacy.     This  confederacy  he  exhibits  to  us  under  t|ie 
mystic  name  of  Babylon,  a  name  used  for  the  same  pur- 
pose by  St.  John  in  the  Revelation.     There  is  a  diflfer- 
ence  nevertheless  in  the  mamief  wherein  the  two  pro- 
phets apply  the  name.   St.  John,  writing  after  the  down- 
fal  of  the  literal  Babylon,  uses  the  appellation  mystically 
alone ;  and  describes  under  that  title  the  papal  Boman 
empire,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  as  is  manifest  from 
the  compound  symbol  of  the  woman  riding  uponthe  ten- 
horned  beast,  and  (I  may  add)  from  the  general  context 
of  the  Apocalypse.     Whereas  Isaiah,  writing  before  the 
downfal  of  the  literal  Babylon,   uses  the  appellation  both 
literally  and  mystically :  and  thus  predicts  the  overthrow 
both  of  the  literal  and  the  mystical  Babylon.     Yet,  so  far 
as  the  arrangement  of  his  prophecy  is  concerned,  he  seems 

*  "  This  chapter  (Isaiah  xii.)  is  arhymn  of  praise  proper  to  be  used  in  that 
triumphant  state  of  the  Church  described  in  the  foregoing'  chapter."  ArgUr 
jnent  to  Lowtli's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xii. 


76 

to  devote  the  13 th  chapter  principally  J:o  the  one,  and  the 
14th  to  the  other  ;  though,  I  beheve,  without  excluding 
a  double  meaning  from  either  chapter. 

But  it  may  naturally  be  asked,  What  is  my  authority 
for  adopting  this  double  mode  of  interpretation?  Why  may 
not  the  whole  prophecy  be  applied  to  the  literal  Babylon? 
And  why  should  it  be  supposed  to  have  any  connection 
with  the  prophecy,  which  may  not  improperly  be  thought 
to  conclude  with  the  12th  chapter. 

I  answer,  that  my  author  it}  ,  even  independent  of  cer- 
tain remarkable  passages  contained  in  the  prophecy  of 
the  burden  of  Babylon^ y  for  adopting  this  double  mode 
of  interpretation  is  the  opening  of  the  14th  chapter.  It  is 
there  predicted,  that  the  Lord  will  have  compassion  on 
Jacobs  and  will  yet  choose  Israel ;  that  he  will  give  them 
rest  in  their  own  land ;  that  the  stranger  shall  be  joined 
linto  them,  and  shall  cleave  unto  the  house  of  Jacob;  that 
the  nations  sliall  take  them,  and  bring  them  into  their  own 
place  ;  that  the  house  of  Israel  shall  possess  them,  as  ser- 
vants  and  as  handmaids,  in  the  land  of  the  Lord ;  that 
they  shall  take  those  captive,  whose  captives  they  were ; 
and  that  they  shall  rule  over  their  oppressors.  No^v,  when 
all  these  matters  are  accomplished ;  when  the  Lord  has 
given  them  rest  from  their  affliction,  from  their  d)squiet, 
and  from  their  hard  servitude  :  in  that  day^  they  are  to 
take  up  a  pai'able  against  their  fallen  enemy,  the  king  of 
Babylon.  These  matters  however  can  by  no  means  be 
said  to  have  been  accomplished  merely  by  the  restora- 
tion of  Judah  from  the  Babylonian  captivity\.  Here  the 
whole  house  of  Jacob  is  to  be  brought  back :  tJien  Judah 
alone  returned  ;  for  it  is  little  better  than  a  quibble,  as 
Bp.  Horsley  justly  observes,  to  interpret  the  prophecies 
respecting  the  general  restoration  of  Israelis  accomplish- 
ed in  the  return  of  a  few  scattered  individuals  of  the  ten 
tribes  with  Judah.  Here  the  stranger  is  to  be  joined  unto 
them,  an  august  prediction  of  the  gathering  in  of  the 
Gentiles  to  the  millennian  Churchy  the  eldest  branch  of 
which  will  be  the  converted  of  Israel :  then,  if  the  pro- 
phecy be  applied  to  the  restoration  of  Judah  from  Baby- 

*  These  will  presently  be  noticed  and  commented  upon. 
t  See  Mr.  Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xiv.  1,  ?. 


77 

Ion,  a  single  proselyte  was  occasionally  converted  to  the 
law ;  and  latterly  at  least,  as  our  Lord  assures  us,  the 
conversion  of  such  proselytes  served  only  to  make  them, 
two-fold  more  children  of  hell  than  their  Pharisaical  con- 
verters*. Here  the  nations  are  to  take  them,  and  to  bring 
them  into  their  own  place  :  then  the  Jews  were  restored 
by  the  instrumentality  of  the  Medo- Persians  only.  Here 
the  house  of  Israel  is  to  possess  those  nations  that  restored 
them,  as  servants  and  as  handmaids  ;  by  which,  I  sup- 
pose, we  are  to  understand,  that  they  shall  acknowledge 
the  primogeniture  of  the  Levitical  Church,  and  both  tem- 
porally and  spiritually  minister  to  its  restoration  and  sup- 
port ■\  :  then  the  Jews  did  not  possess  their  restorers  the 
Persians,  as  servants  and  as  handmaids,  in  ani/  sense  that 
the  words  are  capable  of.  Here  they  aie  to  take  those 
captive,  whose  captives  they  were,  and  are  to  rule  over 
their  oppressors  :  then  the  Jews  neither  took  any  of  the 
Babylonians  captive,  nor  exercised  any  authority  over  the 
nation  that  had  oppressed  them.  In  short,  if  we  admit 
this  part  of  the  prophecy  to  have  been  at  all  accomplished 
at  the  return  of  Judah  from  Babylon,  we  can  only  admit  it 
in  a  very  lax  and  vague  manner,  in  a  merely  inchoate 
and  imperfect  sense.  Every  member  of  it  compels  us  to 
look  forward  to  the  yet  future  restoration  of  the  whole 
house  of  Israel ;  and  every  member  of  it  will  admit  of  a 
most  easy  and  natural  interpretation,  if  we  do  thus  look 
forward.  Accordingly  Bp.  Lowth,  induced  (I  appre- 
hend) by  such  a  train  of  reasoning  as  I  have  here  drawn 
out  at  length,  observes  very  justly,  that  "  the  name  of 
Jacob  and  Israel,  used  apparently  with  design  in  this 
place,  each  of  which  names  includes  the  twelve  tribes  ; 
and  other  circumstances,  mentioned  in  the  two  first  verses 
of  the  \A>th  chapter,  which  did  not  in  any  complete  sense 
accompany  the  return  from  the  captivity  of  Babylon ; 
seem  to  intimate,  that  this  whole  prophecy  extends  its 
views  beyond  that  event  J."      And,   if  it  do  extend  its 

*  Matt,  xxiii.  15. 

t  See  Isaiah  ii.  1— 5— xlix.22,  23— Ix— Ixvi.  12, 19,  20— Rom.  xi.  11—36, 

4  Mr.  Lowth,  like  myself,  supposes  Isaiah  xi.  xii.  xiii.  and  xiv.  to  form  one 

continued  prophecy ;   nay  he  even  extends  it  somewhat  unwarrantably,  I 

think,  to  the  end  of  chap,  xxvii.     He  very  justly  maintains,  that  the  Babylon 

of  this  prediction  must  unavoidably  be  understood  in  a  double  sense.  "  Aftei* 


78 

vicAvs  beyond  that  event,  to  what  can  it  extend  them  ex* 
cept  the  final  atid  general  restoration  of  the  house  of  Jacob? 
And,  if  it  extend  its  views  to  this  final  restoration^  as  it 
plainly  must  do,  then  both  Babylon  and  her  king  must 
be  understood  mystically.  For  it  is  said,  that,  in  the  day 
of  that  very  7'estoration  and  deliverance  which  the  prophet 
had  been  so  fully  describing,  the  people  of  the  Lord  shall 
take  up  their  parable  against  the  king  of  Babylon.  But 
the  literal  Babylon  has  long  since  been  blotted  out  of  the 
list  of  nations.  Therefore  the  Babylon^  which  is  to  be 
destroyed  at  the  era  of  the  yet  future  7'estoration  of  Isreal, 
can  only  be  a  mystical  Babylon :  and  consequently  its 
king  can  only  be  a  mystical  king  of  Babylon"^. 

The  accurate  completion  of  the  prophecy,  particularly 
that  part  of  it  Aviiich  is  contained  in  the  loth  chapter,  in 
the  doxvnfal  and  present  state  of  the  literal  Babylon,  I 
shall  pass  over  as  being  foreign  to  my  subject :  observ- 
ing only,  that  the  day  of  its  overthrow  is  styled  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  as  being  typical  of  the  great  day  of  the 
second  advent ;  that  is  represented  as  being  attended  with 
signs  in  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  the  usual  pro- 
phetic imagery  to  describe  political  revolutions  f  ;  and 
that  the  prediction,  respecting  the  present  desolate  state 
of  Babylon,  has  been  manifestly  copied  and  transferred 
by  St.  John  to  the  future  state  of  tJie  mystical  Babylon.  %, 

the  description  of  those  glorious  times  which  sliould  come  to  pass  in  the  lat- 
ter days,  the  propliet  foretells  the  destruction  of  God's  enemies,  and  begins 
with  Babylon,  whither  God's  people  were  to  he  carried  captive,  and  tlierefore 
was  a  t}  pe  or  figure  of  Antiduist  the  great  oppressor  of  God's  Church  in 
after  times.  And  wlioever  carefdly  considers  se\  erul  particulars  in  this  and 
the  next  chapter  (Isaiah  xiii  xiv.))  and  compares  them  with  tlie  foi-mer  part 
of  chap.  x.\i.  with  chap  xlvii.  and  Jerem.  1.  and  li.  which  treat  of  the  same 
subject,  will  easily  find  that  these  prophecies  have  an  aspect  bcNond  the  \.ak- 
ins;  of  Bab,'lo7i  by  Cyrus,  inasmuch  as  the  prophets  describe  this  judgment  as 
a  decisive  stroke,  that  sliould  tlioroughly  vindicate  the  cause  of  oppressed 
Irutli  and  innocence,  and  put  a  final  period  to  idolatr}  and  to  all  tlie  miseries 
and  oppressions  of  God's  people."     Argument  to  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xiii." 

*  ]Mr.  Lowth  remarks,  that  Isaiah  xiv.  is  "  a  continuation  of  the  same  sub- 
ject" as  that  treated  of  in  the  three  preceding  chapters,  "  containing  a  pre- 
diction of  tlie  utter  downfal  of  the  Babylonian  empire  and  extirpation  of  the 
royal  family  there,  under  which  description  is  fig-uratively  represented  the 
destruction  of  the  powers  of  Antichrist ;  tlie  consequence  of  which  would  be 
the  deliverance  and  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  particular,  and  of  the 
Churcii  in  general."     Argument  to  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xiv. 

f  See  Mr.  I^owtli  on  Isaiah  xiii.  10. 

+  Compare  Isaiah  xiii  15— C2  with  Rev.  xviii.  2,  22,  23.  Mr.  Lowth  re- 
marks, tiiat  from  the  tenor  of  ver.  19,  "we  may  conclude  that  this  prophecy 


79 

I  have  observed,  that  the  mystical  Babylon  is  the  tbhole 
papal  Roman  empire^  both  temporal  and  spiritual ;  whieh, 
at  the  era  of  the  final  restoi-ation  ofJudah^  will  have  coa- 
lesced into  a  g7-aiid  confederacy  of  the  beast  under  his  last 
or  Carlovingian  head^  the  false  prophet  or  the  Eomish 
hierarchy^  and  the  vassal  federal  kings  of  the  Latin  earth. 
Such  being  the  case,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  some  doubt, 
whether  by  the  king  of  Babylon  we  are  to  understand  the 
temporal  J  or  the  spiritual^  chief  of  the  Roman  empire  ;  the 
Carlovingian  head  (which  recent  events  apparently  teach 
us  to  identity  with  the  infdel  ylntichristian  king  J  ^  or  the 
false  prophet.  There  are  certainly  many  points  of  resem- 
blance in  the  predicted  character  of  this  mystical  king  of 
Babylon,  which  mig'ht  lead  us  to  conceive  him  to  be  the 
apostate  bishop  of  Rome ;  and  there  is  undoubtedly  no 
small  similarity  between  his  character  and  that  of  the 
prince  of  Tyre^  as  exhibited  to  us  by  Ezekiel,  who  teach- 
es us  like  Isaiah  to  refer  the  overthrow  of  this  prince  to 
the  days  of  the  final  restoration  of  Israel"^.  Now  the 
prince  of  Tyre^  as  I  shall  hereafter  shew  at  large,  can  on- 
i}',  from  the  description  which  is  given  of  him,  be  the 
papal  man  of  sin :  whence  we  might  suppose,  that  the 
king  of  Babylon,  who  is  to  perish  at  the  very  same  era 
with  the  mystical  prince  of  Tyre,  must  be  the  papal  ma7i 
of  sin  likewise,  or  the  spiritual  sovereign  of  the  Roma?i 
empire.  This  however,  I  apprehend,  is  not  the  case  ;  for 
there  is  a  sufficient  degree  of  difference  between  the  two 
portraits  to  shew  that  they  cannot  both  have  been  intend- 
ed for  the  same  person. 

The  prince  of  Tyre  is  represented  as  having  once  been 
perfect,  and  as  afterwards  corrupting  himself;  as  having 
lo7ig  been  in  the  holy  mountain  of  God,  whence  he  is  at 
length  cast  out  on  account  of  his  sins  ;  and  as  defiling 
his  sanctuaries  hy  the  iniquity  of  his  traffic.  Whereas 
the  king  of  Babylon  is  depicted  as  having  been  uniformly 
corrupt ;  as  oppressing  the  nations  with  armed  violence, 

looks  further  to  anothei"  5«Z>y/oH,  mentioned  in  the  Revelation.  This  isi 
preg'nunt  instanoe  among'  many  others,  that  the  mystical  sense  of  several  pro- 
phecies, that  is,  the  sense  which  is  more  remotely  intended,  comes  nearer  to 
the  letter  of  the  prophecies  than  that  which  some  call  the  literal  sense,  and 
think  to  have  been  immediately  designed  by  the  prophet." 
*  See  Ezek.  xxviii. 


80 

rather  than  seducing  them  by  iniquitous  blandishments  ; 
and  as  meditating,  only  at  the  time  of  the  completio?i  of 
the  prophecy^  to  sit  upon  the  mount  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence, on  the  sides  of  the  north.  In  other  respects  there 
is  a  considerable  resemblance  between  their  characters. 
There  is  in  short  much  the  same  difference  and  much  the 
same  resemblance  between  them,  that  there  is  between 
Daniel's  infidel  king  and  St.  Paul's  man  of  sin :  and  I  am 
strongly  inclined  to  believe,  that  the  two  portraits  are  al- 
together distinct,  and  were  drawTi  by  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel 
for  the  ttvo  sovereigns^  temporal  and  spiritual^  of  the  La- 
tin empire  ;  in  other  words,  the  Carlovingian  head  of  the 
beast  when  wilted  with  Antichrist^  and  the  false  Romish 
prophet. 

But  let  us  examine,  how  far  the  character  of  the  mys- 
tical king  of  Babylon  will  answer  to  that  of  the  infidel 
king. 

They  are  both  to  be  oppressors :  they  are  both  to  be  no- 
torious exactors  of  gold  :  they  are  both  to  smite  the  peo- 
ples with  unremitting  strokes,  and  to  rule  the  nations  in 
their  fuiy.  If  the  king  of  Babylon  is  to  sit  in  the  mount 
of  the  divine  presence ;  the  infidel  king  is  to  pitch  the 
curtains  of  his  pavilions  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain 
between  the  seas  :  and,  if  the  king  of  Babylon  is  to  be 
crushed  in  the  land  of  God,  and  to  be  trampled  down  in 
his  mountains  ;  the  infidel  king  is,  in  the  very  same  re- 
gion and  at  the  very  period,  namely  that  of  the  final  re- 
storation  of  Judah^  to  come  to  his  end,  none  being  able 
to  help  him*.  The  prince  of  Tyre  indeed  is  said  to  be 
cast  out  of  the  holy  mountain  :  but,  in  his  case,  the  holy 
mountain  must  be  understood,  not  of  the  literal  mount 
Zion,  but  of  the  Christian  Church ;  because  he  is  de- 
jscribed  as  having  long  been  in  it,  even  durhig  his  perfect 
or  uncorrupted  statef.  Whereas,  in  the  case  of  the  king 
cf  Babylon^  the  mount  of  the  divine  presence  must,  like 
the  holy  mountain  betiveen  the  seas  mentioned  by  Daniel, 
be  understood  literally  :  both  because  the  king  is  not  saicj^ 

*  Mr  Lowth,  like  myself,  supposes  Isaiah  xiv.  13.  and  Dan.  xi.  45  to  be 
parallel  passages.     Comment,  on  Dan.  xi.  45 

t  Compare  Isaiah  xiv.  13.  with  Ezek.  xxviii.  14,  15,  16.  The  whole  con- 
text of  this  latter  passage  shews,  that  it  can  only  be  understood  figuratively. 
But  it  will  be  discussed  at  large  hereafter  in  its  proper  place. 


like  the  prince  of  Tyre,  to  have  sat  there  in  a  perfect  state, 
but  only  in  the  course  of  those  events  which  terminate  in 
his  destruction  ;  and  because  it  is  afterwards  laterally  pre- 
dicted that  his  overthrow  shall  take  place  in  Palestine. 
Hence  w^e  must,  I  think,  as  in  the  parallel  prophecy  of 
Daniel,  understand  the  k'mg''s  sitt'mg  in  the  mountain  of 
tJie  divine  presence,  and  liis  afterumrds  perishing  in  the 
holy  land,  as  absolutely  literal  matters  of  tact.  And  here 
I  may  remark,  that  the  region,  assigned  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  king  of  Babylon,  namely,  Palestine*,  suffici- 
ently shews,  that  Isaiali  meant  to  describe  a  mystical  cha- 
racter, and  not  to  confine  his  prophecy  merely  to  the  lite- 
ral king  of  Babylon.  The  literal  sovereigii  of  Assyria 
was  assuredly  never  crushed  in  the  mountain  of  God''s 
land ;  but  his  empire,  as  it  is  well  known,  was  broken  by 
the  Medo- Persians  in  the  very  midst  of  his  capital  city. 
Bp.  Lowth  accordingly  observes,  that  "  the  circumstance 
of  this  judgment's  being  to  be  executed  on  God^s  moiin- 
tains  is  of  importance  f."  He  refers  us  indeed  primarily 
to  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib'' s  army  near  Jerusalem  ; 
but  supposes  that  the  prophecy  may  have  a  still  further 
view  to  the  overthrow  of  Gog  and  Magog,  as  predicted 
l^y  Ezekiel  :L.  In  thus  stating  the  matter,  I  certainly  think 
him  altogether  mistaken,  except  in  his  opinion  that  the 
prophecy  yet  remains  to  be  fulfilled  :  for  the  destruction 
of  Sennacherib  was  not  at  all  connected  even  m  ith  the 
return  of  Judah  from  the  Babylonian  captivity  ;  and  the 
overthrow  of  Gog  and  Magog,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see, 
will  not  take  place  at  the  era  of  the  final  restoi'ation  of 
Israel,  but  at  the  close  of  the  Millemiium. 

If  in  some  points  the  character  of  the  mystical  king  of 
Babylon  resemble  that  of  the  infdel  king,  in  others  it  no 
less  resen:ibles  that  of  the  Roman  beast  under  his  Carlo- 
vingian  head,  when  organizing  a  confederacy  of  vassal 

*  "  Surely,  as  I  have  devised,  so  shall  it  be  ;  and,  as  I  have  purposed,  that 
thing  shall  stand  :  to  crush  the  Assyrian  in  my  land,  and  to  trample  him  on 
my  mountains."     Isaiali  xiv.  24,  25. 

■)"  Mr.  Lowth  has  much  tlie  same  observation.  "  To  make  this  part  of  the 
verse  (ver.  25.)  agree  better  with  what  follows,  then  shall  the  yoke  depart 
frovi  thy  neck,  which  words  imply  the  final  deliverance  of  God's  people  ;  I 
am  apt  to  think,  that  by  the  Assyrian  may  be  meant  some  remarkable  enemies 
of  God^s  Church."    Comment,  in  loc. 

4  Ezek,  xxxix.  4. 

11 


82 

kings,  and  planning  an  expedition  against  Palestine.  In 
the  symbolical  language  of  prophecy,  he  is  styled  the 
bright  7no7'mng  stai\  pre-eminent  in  lustre  above  all  the 
other  stars  or  sovereign  princes  of  the  political  firma- 
ment :  and  he  is  represented,  as  proudly  saying  in  his 
heart,  /  xuill  ascend  the  heavens  ;  my  empire  shall  be  an 
universal  one,  extending  over  the  whole  heaven  of  royalty  ; 
above  the  stars  of  God,  above  all  the  anointed  vice-gerents 
of  the  Lord,  I  will  exalt  my  throne  ;  subject  to  my  fede- 
ral infuence,  and  owing  their  very  existence  to  me,  they 
shall  be  mere  vassals  of  my  empire  ;  I  will  be  a  king  of 
kings  ;  1 7vill  be  the  sole  effective  head  of  a  vast  body  po- 
litic ;  I  xvill  ascend  above  tJie  heights  of  the  clouds  ;  I 
will  be  like  the  Most  High.  Do  we  not  in  this  descrip- 
tion recognize  the  beast  under  his  last  head,  aiming  at 
universal  empire,  possessing  an  unbounded  sway  over 
many  vassal  princes,  and  daring  in  the  last  stage  of  his 
mad  impiety  to  contend  even  with  God  himself? 

The  sum  of  the  whole  matter  is  this.  We  have  here 
exhibited  to  us,  under  the  mystic  name  of  the  king  of 
Babylon,  a  power  destined  to  perish,  at  the  yet  future  era 
o^the  restoration  ofJudah,  in  the  land  of  Palestine  ;  after 
it  has  exercised  a  most  merciless  tyrannj^  o\'er  the  sur- 
rounding nations,  and  after  it  has  seated  itself  in  the  mount 
of  the  divine  presence.  We  learn  from  Daniel,  that  a 
certain  poxver,  which  should  begin  to  manifest  itself  sub- 
sequent to  the  reformation,  and  which  for  reasons  both  cir- 
cumstantial and  chronological  can  only  be  infidel  France-^, 
will  perform  the  very  same  actions,  and  will  afterwards 
perish,  at  the  very  same  time,  and  in  the  very  same  coun- 
try. We  further  learn  from  St.  John,  that  the  power, 
which  is  to  do  and  sufi'er  all  this,  will  be  the  last  head  of 
the  Roman  beast,  contri\'ing  and  infliiencing  a  confederacy 
of  the  Pope  and  the  Popish  sovereigns  of  the  Latin  em- 
pire^. Now,  upon  turning  from  prophecy  to  facts,  we 
find  all  these  predictions,  at  once  harmonizing  together, 
and  wonderfully  according  with  existing  circumstances. 
The  republic  of  France,  after  running  the  mad  career  by 
which  the  first  stage  of  the  infidel  king^s  existence  is  so 

*  See  my  Dissertation  on  tie  1260  days,  Chap.  6. 

t  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  daj's.  Vol.  ii.  p.  363  (2d  edit.  p.  404.) 


strongly  tnarked,  is  become  a  military  despotism.  Recent 
events  have  made  the  chief  of  that  despotism  the  undoubt- 
ed representative  of  Charlemagne,  by  whose  very  name 
indeed  his  servile  flatterers  deliglit  to  call  him  ;  and  con- 
sequently have  made  him  the  last  or  Carlovingia?!  head  of 
the  beast.  And  scarcely  has  he  acquired  this  long  covet- 
ed pre-eminence,  ere  he  ht^ms  to ^orm.  a  conspiracy  of 
federal  kings  as  himself  indeed  scruples  not  to  call  them ; 
a  conspiracy^  the  rise  of  which  we  are  taught  by  St.  John 
to  expect  about  this  very  period,  and  which,  under  the 
sixth  apocalyptic  vial,  after  the  Ottoman  empire  shall  have 
been  overthrown,  will  begin  to  be  g-athered  by  secret  di- 
abolical influence  to  Megiddo  in  Palestine  *.  The  end  of 
the  monster  few  perhaps  of  the  present  generation  M'ill 
behold  :  yet  that  end  is  unanimously  predicted  by  the  in- 
spired prophets  who  treat  of  the  restoration  of  Judah ; 
and,  from  the  accuracy  with  which  all  that  they  have  fore- 
told respecting  this  impious  tyranny  has  been  hitherto 
accomplished,  we  cannot  doubt  that  all  which  they  have 
declared  respecting  its  end  will  be  no  less  accurately  ac- 
complished. 

Let  any  person,  with  these  views  of  the  subject,  care- 
fully peruse  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and,  I  think, 
he  cannot  but  be  struck  with  its  wonderful  exactness  of 
description.  Judah  and  Israel,  now  restored  to  their  own 
country,  exult  over  the  downfal  of  a  mystic  king  of  Ba- 
bylon; M'hose  empire  is  characterized  as  a  rapacious  ex- 
actress  of  gold,  and  himself  as  a  merciless  oppressor  of 
the  nations.  The  Lord  hath  broken  the  staff"  of  the  wick- 
ed, the  sceptre  of  the  rulers ;  the  sceptre  of  him  that  smote 
the  peoples  in  his  wrath,  that  ruled  the  nations  in  his  an- 
ger. By  his  fall  the  whole  earth  is  at  rest :  and  all,  that 
behold  it,  exclaim ;  "Is  this  the  man  that  made  the  earth 
to  tremble;  that  shook  tlie  kingdoms;  that  made  the  world 
like  a  desert ;  that  destroyed  the  cities  ?  How  art  thou 
fallen  from  heaven,  O  day-star,  son  of  the  morning !  How 

*  It  is  a  curious  circumstance,  that  in  one  of  the  speeches,  detailed  by  the 
Moniteur  as  delivered  to  the  legislative  body,  the  political  system,  which  we 
now  behold  rapidly  advancing  to  maturity,  is  styled  a  confederacy  and  a  pious 
league. 


84 

Ttrt  tliou  cut  down  to  the  earth,  thou  thjit  didst  subdue 
the  nations  !  Thou  didst  say  in  th\^  heart :  I  will  ascend 
the  heavens ;  above  the  stars  of  God  I  will  exalt  my 
tlirone  ;  I  will  sit  upon  the  mount  of  the  divine  presence, 
on  the  sides  of  the  north ;  I  will  ascend  above  the  heights 
of  the  clouds  ;  I  will  be  like  the  Most  High.  But  thou 
shalt  be  brought  down  to  the  gra^'e,  to  the  sides  of  the 
pit.  Thou  shalt  be  crushed  in  the  land  of  the  Lord ;  thou 
shalt  be  trampled  upon  in  his  mountains.  Thy  yoke  shall 
depart  from  oft'  Judah  ;  thy  burden  shall  be  removed  from 
oft'  their  shoulder  *." 

Such  will  be  the  destruction  of  Ajitichrist :  but  the 
prophet,  by  "  one  of  the  boldest  prosopo^Doeias  that  ever 
was  attempted  in  poetry,"  cai-ries  us  yet  beyond  his  de- 

•  Vitringa  supposes,  that  this  prophecy  respecting'  the  king  of  Babylon  will 
receive  its  ultimate  accomplisliment  in  the  downful  of  the  Papacy.  Thougli  I 
think  that  the  cliaracter  of  this  mystic  sovereign  corresponds  much  better  witli 
the  iiifidel  tyrant  than  the  Pope,  the  interpretation  of  Vitringa  is  nevertheless 
important,  as  it  shews  his  decided  opinion,  like  that  of  tlie  two  Lowths,  te 
have  been,  that  we  must  look  beyo7id  the  literal  king  of  Babylon  for  the  com- 
plete fnlfilment  of  the  prediction. 

"Imperii  vero  Babylonici,  ad  quod  Joannes  in  Apocalypsl  alludit,  quo 
modo  in  hac  prophetia  describitur,  hi  sunt  cliaracteres.  a.-  Est  imperium 
magnum  et  vastum.  ^.  Cuius  metropolis  est  urbs  magna,  ampla,  spleudida, 
regnorum  deciis,  excellcntia  sua  superbiens  (Cap.  xiii.  ly.).  7.  Quae  captivum 
tenet  populum  Dei  olim  et  longum  temjius  liberum,  cumque  duro  premit  jug» 
servitutis  (^Cap.  xiv.  1,  2,  3,  4.)  cT.  Qui  prieest  Pex  sive  Peges  violent i,\.\r3inn\ 
crudeles,  exactores,  populis  violenter  et  inclementer  imperantes.  (Cap.  xiii. 
11.  xiv.  6,  \2.)  t.  Tanto  fastu  se  supra  humana  omnia  eflferentes,  ut  se  Dee 
sequent,  etsummamcuni  eo  partiri  guudeantgloriam  (Vs.  1,3,  14.),  sedentes  ia 
templo  Dei,  tanquam  Deus,  et  quidem  ad  latera  Aquilonis.  ^.  Turbantes 
totum  orbem,  bellorumque  inter  gentes  jacientes  semina  (Cap.  xiv.  16.). 
■H.  Qui  Rex,  complexe  sumptus,  vi  tandem  dejiciendus  sit  de  throno  imperii, 
et  detrudendus  ad  inferos  (Cap.  xiv.  15.).  6.  Cum  admirationeomnium  popu- 
lorumet  gentium,  qujecrediderant  imperium  ejus  fore  aternum  (Cap.  xiv.  6.) 
I.  Abolita  simul  omni  hujus  imperii  successione  (Vs.  21,  22.).  x,.  Interitu 
autem  suo  involvet  plenarium  excidium  Babelis,  ita  destruendae,  ut  nunquam 
postea  habitetur  (Cap.  xiii.  20,  21.  xiv.  23.)  k.  Cujus  judicii  administri  essent 
maximam  partem  gentes  truces,  crudeles,  bcllicoss,  Habeli  septentrionales, 
Ron  parsurae  incolis  Babelis  (Cap.  xiii.  17.)  fA.  EfTectus  autem  esset  liberati* 
ecclesiae  a  jugo,  ciuohactenus  pressafuerat,  ejusque  jubilum  cum  depraedica- 
tione  divinae  justitix  et  gratiie  (Cap.  xiv.  1,  2.)  Hsec  nunc  applica,  sodes,  ad 
Romam,  persecutricem  sanctorum,  etmysticos  tanti  imperii  reges,  et  nullibi 
haerebis,  exceptis  iis,  quorum  implementum  adhuc  expectaraus."  Comment, 
in  Jesaiam  in  loc. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that,  as  the  literal  Babylon  was  destroyed 
by  the  instrumentality  of  nations  which  lay  /wrthward  of  it,  so  we  have  some 
reason  to  believe  from  prophecy  that  a  great  northern  nation  will  be  employed 
to  punish  the  Roinan  Babylon  while  Antichrist  is  engaged  in  his  expedition 
against  Palestine.  This  point  vvill  be  discussed  hereafter,  when  I  treat  of  the 
predictions  of  Daniel  and  St.  John. 


85 

struction.  "  The  regions  of  the  dead  are  laid  open,  and 
Hades  is  represented  as  rousing  up  the  shades  of  the  de- 
parted monarchs.  They  rise  from  their  thrones  to  meet 
the  king  of  Babylon  at  his  comings  and  insult  him  on  his 
being  reduced  to  the  same  low  estate  of  impotence  and 
dissolution  with  themselves.  The  image  of  the  state  of 
the  dead,  or  the  Infernum  poeticum  of  the  Hebrews,  is 
taken  from  their  custom  of  burying  those  at  least  of  the 
higher  rank,  in  large  sepulchral  vaults  hewn  in  the  rock. 
Of  this  kind  of  sepulchres  there  are  remains  at  Jerusalem 
now  extant ;  and  some  that  are  said  to  be  the  sepulchres 
of  the  kings  of  Judah.  You  are  to  form  to  yourself  the 
idea  of  an  immense  subterraneous  vault,  a  vast  gloomy 
cavern,  all  round  the  sides  of  which  there  are  cells  to  re- 
ceive the  dead  bodies.  Here  the  deceased  monarchs  lie 
in  a  distinguished  sort  of  state,  suitable  to  their  former 
rank,  each  on  his  own  couch,  with  his  arms  beside  him, 
his  sword  at  his  head,  and  the  bodies  of  his  chiefs  and 
companions  round  about  him.  These  illustrious  shades 
rise  at  once  from  their  couches,  as  from  their  thrones ; 
and  advance  to  the  entrance  of  the  cavern  to  meet  the  king 
of  Babylon,  and  to  receive  him  with  insults  on  his  fall. 

"  I  believe  it  may  with  truth  be  aJBirmed,  that  there 
is  no  poem  of  its  kind  extant  in  any  language,  in  which 
the  subject  is  so  well  laid  out,  and  so  happily  conducted, 
with  such  a  richness  of  invention,  with  such  a  variety  of 
images,  persons,  and  distinct  actions,  with  such  rapidity 
and  ease  of  transition,  in  so  small  a  compass,  as  in  this 
ode  of  Isaiah.  For  beauty  of  disposition,  strength  of 
colouring,  greatness  of  sentiment,  brevity,  perspicuity, 
and  force  of  expression,  it  stands  among  all  the  monu- 
ments of  antiquity  unrivalled*." 

•  See  Bp.  Lowth's  elegant  and  classical  elucidation  of  this  -ode,  in  the 
notes  to  tlii^  translatiaa  of  Isaiah. 


86 


PROPHECY  VI. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews — The  irruption  of  Antichrist  at  the 
time  of  their  restoration — The  character  of  some  maritime  na- 
tion destined  to  restore  the  converted  Jews — The  occupation  of 
mount  Zion  by  Antichrist — Hi^  invasion  of  Egypt — The  state  of 
Egypt  at  this  period — The  religious  connection  of  Assyria,  Israel, 
and  Egypt. 

Isaiah  xvii.  1.  The  burden  of  Damascus.  Behold, 
Damascus  is  taken  away  from  being  a  city,  and  it  shall 
be  a  ruinous  heap.  2.  The  cities  of  Aroer  are  forsaken : 
they  shall  be  for  flocks  which  shall  lie  down,  and  none 
shall  make  them  afraid.  3.  The  fortress  also  shall  cease 
from  Ephraim,  and  the  kingdom  from  Damascus  and  the 
remnant  of  Syria  :  they  shall  be  as  the  glory  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  4.  For  in  that 
day  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the  glory  of  Jacob  shall  be 
made  thin,  and  the  fatness  of  his  flesh  shall  wax  lean. 
5.  And  it  shall  be,  as  when  the  harvest  man  gathereth  the 
corn,  and  his  arm  reapeth  the  ears ;  and  it  shall  be  as  he 
that  gathereth  cars  in  the  valley  of  Rephaim.  6.  Yet  glean- 
ing grapes  shall  be  left  in  it,  as  the  shaking  of  an  olive- 
tree,  two  or  three  berries  in  the  top  of  the  uppermost 
bough,  four  or  five  in  the  outmost  branches  of  its  fruit- 
fulness,  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  7.  At  that  day 
shall  each  man  look  to  his  Maker,  and  his  eyes  shall  have 
respect  to  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  8.  And  he  shall  not 
look  unto  the  altars,  the  work  of  his  hands  ;  and  what  his 
fingers  made  he  shall  not  regard,  even  the  groves,  and  the 
images.  9.  In  that  day,  the  cities  of  his  strength  shall 
be  as  the  leaving  of  a  ploughed  field*  and  a  branch, 
w^hich  they  have  left  before  the  face  of  the  children  of 
Israel :  and  there  shall  be  desolation.      10.  Because  thou 

*  The  leaving  of  a  ploughed  field."]  I  entirely  agree  with  Mr.  Parkhurst  in 
this  translation  of  the  passag'e.  The  words  contain  a  manifest  allusion  to 
the  Mosaic  laws  relative  to  the  not  gleaning  of  their  ploughed  fields,  vine- 
yards, and  olive-yards,  but  leaving  somewhat  of  the  fruits  for  the  poor  of  the 
land  (Compare  Levit  ix.  9,  10.  and  Deut.  xxiv.  19 — 21.  in  the  Hebrew).  The 
idea  here  designed  to  be  conveyed,  is  the  same  as  that  in  Ver.  6.  an  idea  of 
desolation  so  extreme,  as  to  leave  in  the  land  nothing  more  than  the  bare 
gleanings  of  the  people.     See  Parkhurst's  Heb,  IjCX.  Vox  cnp. 


87 

hast  forgotten  the  God  of  thy  sah^ation,  and  the  rock  of 
thy  strength  thou  hast  not  remembered ;  therefore  thou 
shah  plant  desirable  plants,  and  a  twig  as  a  stranger  shalt 
thou  sow  it.  11.  In  the  day  thou  shalt  vehemently  la- 
bour to  make  thy  plant  grow ;  even  in  the  early  morning 
shalt  thou  cause  thy  seed  to  flourish  :  nevertheless  the 
heap  of  the  harvest-man  shall  be  in  a  day  of  grief  and 
heavy  trouble. 

12.  Ho !  multitude  of  many  people  ;  as  the  tumultu- 
ous noise  of  the  sea  they  roar  tumultuously  :  and  the  ve- 
hement noise  of  the  nations,  as  the  noise  of  mighty  wa- 
ters they  vociferate  !  13.  The  nations  shall  roar  indeed  as 
the  roaring  of  many  waters  :  yet  he  shall  rebuke  them,  and 
they  shall  flee  far  off" ;  and  they  shall  be  chased  as  the 
chaff"  of  the  mountains  before  the  wind,  and  as  a  rolling 
thing  before  the  whirlwind.  14.  In  the  time  of  the  even- 
ing, and  behold  destruction !  before  morning,  and  they 
are  not.  This  is  the  portion  of  them  that  trouble  us,  and 
the  lot  of  them  that  spoil  us. 

xviii.  1.  Ho  !  land  spreading  wide  the  shadow  of  thy 
wings*,  which  art  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush.  2.  Accus- 
tomed to  send  messengersf  by  sea,  even  in  bulrush  ves- 
selsj,  upon  the  surface  of  the  waters  !  Go,  swift  messen- 

*  Shadow  of  thy  wings.'\  "  The  shadow  of  wings  is  a  very  usual  image  iii 
prophetic  language  for  the  protection  afforded  by  the  stronger  to  the  weak.  God's 
protection  of  his  sei-vants  is  described  by  their  being  safe  under  the  shadow 
of  his  wings.  And,  in  this  passage,  the  broad  shadowing  wings  may  be  intend- 
ed to  characterize  some  great  people,  who  should  be  famous  for  the  protec- 
tion they  should  give  to  those  whom  they  received  into  their  alliance  ;  and  1 
cannot  but  think  this  the  most  simple  and  natural  exposition  of  the  expres- 
sion" (Bp.  Ilorsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.).  It  is  not  impossible  however, 
and  certainly  not  incongruous  witli  tlie  figurative  language  of  prophecy,  that, 
since  the  messengers  described  in  this  prediction  are  plainly  a  maritime  na- 
tion, tlie  shadowy  wings  here  spoken  of  may  mean  the  sails  of  their  ships.  In- 
deed the  learned  prelate,  to  whom  I  am  so  much,  or  rather  so  wholly,  indebt- 
ed for  all  the  succeeding  remarks  on  this  chapter,  seems  himself  to  allow, 
that  sometliing  like  this  may  be  insinuated  in  the  imagery  of  the  first  verse. 

\  Acacstonied  to  send  messengers.'}  "Tlie  form  of  the  expression  in  the 
original  signifies,  not  a  single  act  of  sending  once,  but  the  habit  of  sending  per- 
petually. I'he  word  oiiis  may  be  taken  for  persons  employed  between  nation 
and  nation,  for  the  purposes  either  of  negociation  or  commerce."  Letter  on 
Isaiah  xviii. 

t  Bulrush  •vessels.'}  "This  is  a  figurative  expression  ;  descriptive  of  skill 
-in  navigation,  and  of  the  safety  and  expedition  with  which  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land  called  to  are  supposed  to  perform  distant  voyages.  Navigable  ves- 
sels are  certainly  meant.  If  the  country  spoken  to  be  distant  from  Egypt, 
"vessels  of  bulrush  are  only  used  as  an  apt  image,  on  account  of  their  levity,  for 
.^quick.sailing  vessels  of  any  material^     Letter  on  Isaiah  xviili^ 


gers,  unto  a  nation  dragged  away  and  plucked,  unto  a 
jDeople  wonderful  from  their  beginning  hitherto,  a  nation 
expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  under  foot,  whose  land 
rivers  have  spoiled.  3.  All  the  inhabitants  ot  the  worlds 
and  dwellers  upon  earth,  shall  see  the  lifting  up,  as  it  were, 
of  a  banner  upon  the  mountains,  and  shall  hear  the  sound- 
ing, as  it  were,  of  a  trumpet.  4.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord 
unto  me  :  I  will  sit  still  (but  I  will  keep  my  eye  upon  my 
prepared  habitation),  as  the  parching  heat  just  before 
lightning,  as  the  dewy  cloud  in  the  heat  of  harvest.  5.  For 
afore  the  harvest,  when  the  bud  is  coming  to  perfection, 
and  the  blossom  is  become  a  juicy  berry,  he  will  cut  off 
the  useless  shoots  with  pruning  hooks,  and  the  bill  shall 
take  away  the  luxuriant  brandies.  6.  They  shall  be  left 
together  to  the  bird  of  prey  of  the  mountains,  and  to  the 
beasts  of  the  earth.  And  upon  it  shall  the  bird  of  prey 
summer,  and  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth  upon  it  shall  win- 
ter. 7.  At  that  season  a  present  shall  be  led  to  the  l^ord 
of  hosts,  a  people  dragged  away  and  plucked,  even  of  a 
people  wonderful  from  their  beginning  hitherto  ;  a  nation 
expectjp.g,  expecting,  and  trampled  under  foot,  whose 
land  rivers  have  spoiled,  unto  the  place  of  the  name  of 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  mount  Sion. 

xix.  1.  The  burden  of  Egypt.  Behold,  the  Lord 
rideth  upon  a  swift  cloud,  and  cometh  unto  P^gypt: 
and  the  idols  of  Egypt  are  moved  at  his  presence,  and 
the  heart  of  Egypt  shall  melt  in  the  midst  of  it.  2.  And 
I  will  cover  in  tents  *  the  Egyptians  against  the  Eg}'-p- 
tians :  and  they  shall  fight,  every  one  against  his  brother, 
and  ever}'  one  against  his  neighbour ;  city  against  city, 
and  kingdom  against  kingdom.  3.  And  the  spirit  of 
Egypt  shall  fail  in  the  midst  thereof;  and  I  will  destroy 
the  counsel  thereof:  and  they  shall  seek  to  the  idols,  and 
to  the  charmers,  and  to  them  that  have  familiar  spirits, 
and  to  the  v/izai-ds.     4.   And  the  Egyptians  will  I  give 

*  I  will  cover  in  tents.']  So  I  have  ventured  to  render  ^nsaaa-  attributing-  to 
the  primitive  the  sense  of  one  of  its  derivatives.  The  cor.text  shews,  that 
it  cannot  mean  I  luiU  protect.  Tlie  Vulgate  reads  conciirrere  Jaciam  ;  the 
Lxx,  {T«^«ofl;!<rovTs«/ A/^t/TTfs/ s;r' A/^vTT/Kc ;  the  Chaldee  Paraphrast,  concur- 
rcre fnciain  ;  the  Syriac,  concitalo  ;  and  the  Arabic,  irruent  JEgvptii  in  JEgyp- 
tios.  All  these  con\ey  the  very  same  idea  of  the  .Egyptians being  in  a  state  of 
civil  liiar  Huith  the  Egyptians. 


89 

over  into  the  hand  of  cruel  lords ;  and  a  fierce  king  shall 
rule  over  them,  saith  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  hosts.  5.  And 
the  waters  shall  fail  from  the  sea,  even  the  river  shall  be 
wasted  and  dried  up,  6.  And  the  rivers  shall  be  remov- 
ed, away  ;  and  the  streams  of  defence  shall  be  emptied 
and  dried  up  :  the  reeds  and  flags  shall  wither.     7.  The 
plants  by  the  streams,  by  the  mouth  of  the  streams,  and 
every  thing  sown  by  the  streams,  shall  wither,  be  driven 
away,  and  be  no  more.  8.   The  fishers  also  shall  mourn; 
even  all  they,  that  cast  the  hook  into  the  streams,  shall 
lament ;  and  they,  that  spread  nets  upon  the  waters,  shall 
languish.     9.  Moreover  they  that  work  in  yellow  flax, 
and  they  that  weave  nets*,  shall  be  confounded.   10.  And 
their  toils  f  shall  be  broken,  even  all  they  that  earn  wa- 
ges J  at  the  fish-pools.     11.    Surely  the  princes  of  Zoan 
are  fools,  the  counsel  of  the  wise  counsellors  of  Pharaoh  ^ 
is  become  brutish  :  how  say  ye  unto  Pharaoh,  I  am  the 
son  of  the  wise,  the  son  of  ancient  kings  !      12.  Where 
are  thy  wise  men  ?  and  let  them  tell  thee  now,  and  let 
them  know  what  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  counselled  against 
Egypt.     13.  The  princes  of  Zoan  are  become  fools,  the 
princes  of  Noph  are  deceived,  and  the  comer  stones  of  its 
tribes  have  seduced  Egypt.   14.  The  Lord  hath  mingled 
a  perverse  spirit  in  the  midst  thereof :  and  they  have  caus- 
ed Egypt  to  stagger  in  all  its  works,  as  a  drunken  man 
staggereth  in  his  vomit.      15.  Neither  shall  there  be  any 
work  for  Egypt,  which  the  head  or  tail,  branch  or  rush, 
may  do.       16.  In  that  day  shall  Egypt  be  like  unto  wo- 
men :  and  it  shall  be  afraid  and  fear,  because  of  the  shak- 
ing of  the  hand  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  which  he  shaketh 
over  it.    17.  And  the  land  of  Judah  shall  be  a  terror  un- 
to Egypt :  every  one,  that  maketh  mention  thereof,  shall 
be  afraid  in  himself;  because  of  the  counsel  of  the  Lord 

*  They  that 'voork  in  yellovijlax,  and  they  that  weave  jiefj.]  Bp.  Lowth  translates 
this  passage,  They  that  work  the  fine  fiax  shall  be  confounded,  and  they  that  weave 
net-work.  But  the  context  seems  to  shew,  that  not  fine  fiax  fit  for  the  pur- 
poses of  weaving  ornamental  net-work  is  here  intended,  but  coarse  fiax  for  the 
making  oifishing-nets.  \ 

.   -j-  Their  toils.']     So  I  render  nipPB'.     See  Parkhurst's  Heb.  Lex.  Vox  if  n- 

+  Earn  ivages.']     So  I  render  njiy  ^cp- 

§  The  wise  counsellors  of  Pharaoh.']  Isaiah  describes  the  future  state  of 
Egypt  in  terms,  strictly  applicable  only  to  his  own  times  ;  as,  in  verses  19, 
20,  21,  he  represents  the  worship  of  future  times,  according^  to  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  his  own. 

12 


90 

of  hosts,  which  he  hath  determined  against  it.  18.  In 
that  day  shall  five  cities  in  the  land  of  Egypt  speak  the 
religious  confession  of  Canaan,  and  swear  to  the  Lord  of 
hosts  :  one  shall  be  called  the  city  of  Heres  *.  19.  In 
that  day  there  shall  be  an  altar  to  the  Lord  in  the  midst 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  a  pillar  at  the  border  thereof  to 
the  Lord.  20.  And  it  shall  be  for  a  sign  and  for  a  wit- 
ness unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  the  land  of  Egypt :  for 
they  shall  cry  unto  the  Lord  because  of  the  oppressors^ 
and  he  shall  send  them  a  saviour  and  a  great  one,  and  he 
shall  deliver  them.  21.  And  the  Lord  shall  be  known 
to  Egypt,  and  the  Eg}'ptians  shall  know  the  Lord  in  that 
day,  and  shall  minister  sacrifice  and  oblation;  yea,  they 
shall  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord,  and  perform  it.  22.  And 
the  Lord  shall  smite  Egypt ;  he  shall  smite,  and  heal  it : 
and  they  shall  return  even  to  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  be 
intreated  of  them,  and  shall  heal  them.  23.  In  that  day^ 
there  shall  be  a  high-way  out  of  Egypt  to  Assyria ;  and 
the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  Egypt,  and  the  Egyptian  into 
Assyria ;  and  the  Egyptians  shall  serve  with  the  Assyri- 
ans. 24.  In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  third  with  Egypt  and 
with  Assyria,  even  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  land. 
25.  Whom  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  bless,  saying.  Blessed 
be  Eg}'pt  my  people,  and  Assyria  the  w  ork  of  my  hands, 
and  Israel  mine  inheritance. 

COMMENTARY. 

I  am  inclined  to  consider  these  three  chapters  as  form- 
ing jointly  a  single  prophecy^  and  as  containing  only  a 
more  full  and  ample  account  of  the  matters  foretold  in 
the  former  part  of  the  preceding  prophecy  \.  The  order 
observed  in  both  is  nearly  the  same ;  and  both  equally 
harmonize  with  the  collateral  prediction  of  Daniel  %  in 
closely  connecting  the  fate  of  Egypt  with  the  restoration 
of  Jiidah. 

The  prophecy  now  under  consideration  commences, 
with  matter  not  indeed  immediately  relating  to  the  prin- 

*  The  city  of  Heres.']  Heres  or  Ares  was  an  oriental  name  of  the  Sun.  The 
city  of  Heres  accordingly  was  called  by  the  Greeks  HeliopoUs.  See  my 
Dissert,  on  the  Cabiri.  Vol.  i.  p.  104. 

t  Isaiah  si.  10—16.  ^  Dan.  si.  41, 42,  43,  45.  xii.  1. 


91 

cipal  subject  of  it,  yet  affording  an  opportunity  of  a  suf- 
ficiently easy  digression.  "  7%^  burden  of  Damascus,  open- 
ed at  the  beginning  of  the  17th  chapter,  naturally  brings 
the  prophet  to  speak  of  the  subversion  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel,  in  those  days  in  alliance  with  the  Syrians  :  and  to 
be  overthrown  by  the  same  enemy  at  the  same  time. 
The  prediction  of  the  subversion  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel 
leads  the  prophet  to  warn  the  Jewish  people  in  general  of 
the  judgments  which  await  them,  with  manifest  allusion 
in  the  Wth  verse,  as  Casaubon  has  observed,  to  the  final 
dispersion  of  the  nation  by  the  Romans.  And  the -allusion 
to  this  fijial  dispersioji  leads,  as  it  almost  always  does,  to 
a  prediction  of  the  final  restoration.  This  is  delivered 
generally  in  the  \2th,  I3th,  and  lith  verses  of  the  17 th 
chapter*.'''* 

In  foretelling  the  d'lspers'ion  of  the  Jews,  and  its  various 
concoinitant  circumstances,  Isaiah  is  wonderfully  particu- 
lar. He  declares,  that  they  should  be  cut  Aown  and  car- 
ried away  from  the  country  of  their  fathers,  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  husbandman  reaps  his  com  and  conveys  it 
from  the  fields  where  it  had  grown ;  and  yet  that  a  few 
stragglers,  the  wreck  of  a  once  mighty  people,  should  re- 
main, like  gleanings,  in  the  landf — Great  however  as 

•  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  p.  100. 

•}■  The  figures  here  used  by  the  prophet  are  peculiarly  apposite.  The  yeius 
should  not  only  be  cut  down,  as  in  the  ordinary  calamities  of  war;  but  the 
whole  nation  sliould  be  utterly  taken  away  from  their  own  land,  as  a  reaper 
g'athers  the  ears  of  corn.  Yet,  notwithstanding'  tlieir  general  dispersion,  a 
remnant  should  be  left,  strangers  and  pilgrims,  in  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
like  the  few  grapes  that  remain  at  the  gathering  in  of  the  vintage,  or  the  few 
olive-berries  tliat  are  overlooked  in  the  season  of  making  oil.  As  the  pro- 
phecy was,  such  has  been  the  event.  ••  When  the  emperor  Adrian  had  sub- 
dued the  rebellious  ^e-xs,  he  published  an  edict,  forbidding  theni  upon  pain  of 
death  to  set  foot  in  Jerusalem,  or  even  to  approach  the  country  round  about 
it.  TertuUian  and  Jerome  say,  that  they  were  prohibited  from  entering  into 
Judea.  From  that  time  to  this  their  country  hath  been  in  the  possession  of 
foreign  lords  and  masters,  few  of  the  yetus  dwelling  in  it,  and  those  only  of 
a  low  servile  condition.  Benjamin  of  Tudela  in  Spain,  a  celebrated  Jew  of 
the  12th  century,  travelled  into  all  parts  to  visit  those  of  his  own  nation,  and 
to  learn  an  exact  state  of  their  affairs  :  and  he  hath  reported,  that  Jerusalem 
was  almost  entirely  abandoned  by  the  yews.  He  found  there  not  above  two 
hundred  persons,  who  were  for  the  most  part  dyers  of  wool,  and  who  every 
year  purchased  the  privilege  of  the  monopoly  of  that  trade.  They  lived  all 
together  under  David's  tower,  and  made  thfere  a  very  little  figure.  If  Jeru- 
salem had  so  few  Jews  in  it,  the  rest  of  the  holy  land  was  still  more  depopu- 
late. He  found  two  of  them  in  one  city,  twenty  in  another  ;  most  whereof 
were  dyers.  In  other  places  there  were  more  persons  ;  but  in  upper  Galilee, 
where  the  nation  was  in  the  greatest  repute  after  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem,  he 


92 

their  sins  and  their  calamities  should  be,  during  the  whole 
time  of  their  dispersion  they  at  least  should  keep  them- 
selves from  their  former  besetting  crime,  an  infatuated 
attachment  to  the  idolatrous  vanities  of  the  Gentiles  *. 
Nevertheless  their  worship,  though  free  from  idolatry, 
should  not  be  pleasing  unto  God.  In  consequence  of 
their  forgetting  the  God  of  their  salvation,  and  disregard- 
ing the  rock  of  their  strength,  their  strong  cities  should 
be  forsaken ;  there  should  be  a  great  desolation  in  the 
land ;  and  they  themselves,  while  strangers  in  foreign 
countries,  should  be  given  up  to  the  folly  of  painfully 
accumulating  riches  and  never  deriving  any  benefit  from 
them  f. 

Here  "  the  prophet,  by  a  sudden  exclamation  of  sur- 
prize (ill  rendered  in  our  common  English  version  TFoe 
to  J,  gives  notice,  that  a  new  scene  suddenly  breaks  upon 
him.  He  sees  the  armies  of  Antichrist  rushing  on  in  the 
full  tide  of  conquest,  and  pouring  like  a  deluge  over  the 

found  hardly  any  Jews  at  all.  A  very  accurate  and  faithful  traveller  of  our 
own  nation  (Sandys)  wlio  was  liimself  also  in  the  holy  land,  saith,  that  it  is 
for  the  most  part  now  inhabited  by  Moors  and  Arabians  ;  those  possessing- 
the  vallics,  and  these  the  mountains.  Turks  thej-e  be  few  ;  but  many  Greeks, 
■with  other  Christians  of  all  sects  and  nations,  such  as  impute  to  the  place  an 
inherent  holiness.  Here  be  also  some  Jews  :  yet  inherit  the\'  no  part  of  the 
land,  but  in  tlieir  own  country  do  live  as  aliens."    Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  viii. 

*  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe,  that,  during  the  whole  period  of  their 
present  dispersion,  tlie  ^eivs  liave  been  as  remarkable  for  their  detestation  of 
idolatry,  as  they  were  heretofore  notoriously  prone  to  it.  Although  some 
of  them  may  have  been  constrained  by  the  tortures  of  the  inquisition  to  wor- 
ship the  images  of  the  Papists,  force  and  the  fear  of  death  have  alone  com- 
pelled them  to  violate  what  they  justly  esteem  the  fundamental  precept  of 
the  Law.  Thus  have  prophecies,  apparently  contradictory  to  each  other, 
been  minutely  fulfilled.  Some  declare,  that  the  ^e=v.'s  should  never,  during 
their  dispersion,  relapse  into  idolatry  ;  others,  that  they  should  serve  gods, 
the  v)ork  of  men's  hands.  Accordingly,  they  have  never  voluntarily  and  nation- 
ally become  idolaters,  since  the  destruction  of  their  polity  by  the  Romans  ; 
although  many  individuals  among  them  liave  been  constrained  by  the  Papists 
to  bow  down  bei'ore  the  idols  of  the  Latin  church.  'N'ide  supra  Commentary 
on  Prophecy  I.  and  infra  on  Propliecy  XVIL 

f  The  idea  of  the  passage  seems  to  be,  that  the  ^eivs,  in  consequence  of 
their  rejecting  the  Messiah,  should  be  judicially  given  up  to  the  most  sordid 
avarice.  Ever  laboin-ingto  accumulate  riches  in  foreign  lands  ;  rising  early 
in  the  morning,  and  late  taking  rest,  and  eating  the  bread  of  carefulness  ;  they 
should  still  reap  no  harvest  f-om  their  toil,  but  the  day  of  their  expected 
enjoyment  should  be  a  day  of  grief  and  heavy  trouble.  The  various  oppres- 
sions, which  this  sordid  people  (most  unjustly  no  doubt)  have  suffered,  are 
almost  endless.  "  What  frequent  seizures  have  been  made  of  their  effects 
in  almost  all  countries !  How  often  have  they  been  fined  and  fleeced  by 
almost  all  governments  !  How  often  have  they  been  forced  to  redeem  their 
lives  with  what  is  almost  as  dear  as  their  lives,  their  treasure  I  Instances  are 


93 

land  of  God's  people  *.  He  no  sooner  sees  them,  than 
he  declares  that  God  shall  rebuke  them  ;  that  they  shall  . 
flee  with  precipitation  and  in  dismay  ;  and  shall  he  chased^ 
as  the  chaff  of  the  mountams  before  the  xuind,  and  as  a 
rolling  thing  before  the  xvhirhvind\.  Elated  with  this 
glorious  scene  the  total  rout  of  the  apostate  confederacy y 
he  addresses  his  countrymen,  in  words  of  exultation  imd 
triumph :  This  is  the  portion  of  them  that  spoil  us,  and 
the  lot  of  the?n  that  rob  us^- 

"  Having  thus,  in  general  terms,  predicted  the  final 
success  and  happiness  of  his  natio?r,  he  proceeds,  in  the 
18th  chapter,  to  the  description  of  visions,  more  parti- 
cularly declarative  of  the  manner,  and  of  the  time,  of  their 
deliverance^.''^ 

And  first  the  vision  of  the  armies  of  Antichrist,  at  the 
close  of  the  17th  chapter,  is  succeeded  by  a  vision  of  the 
people  who  are  destined  to  take  the  lead  in  converting  and 
restoring  one  great  division  ofJudah.  Isaiah  beholds  their 
fleets  rapidly  approaching  from  far  distant  regions  to  Pa- 
lestine ;  and  describes  them  as  possessing  a  powerful 
navy,  as  sailing  with  ease  and  expedition  to  remote  parts 
of  the  world,  and  as  being  faithful  worshippers  of  God  : 
in.  short,  they  appear  to  be  some  great  maritime  nation, 

innumerable.  We  will  only  cite  an  historian  of  our  own,  who  says  that 
Henry  iii.  always  polled  the  yeivs  at  every  low  ebb  of  his  fortunes.  One 
Abraham,  who  was  found  delinquent,  was  forced  to  pay  700  marks  for  his 
redemption.  Aaron,  another  Jew,  protested  that  the  king  had  taken  from 
him  at  times,  30,000  marks  of  silver,  besides  200  marks  of  gold,  which  he 
had  presented  to  the  queen.  And  in  like  manner  he  used  many  other  of  the 
•yews.  When  they  were  banished  in  the  reign  of  Edward  i,  their  estates 
were  confiscated,  and  immense  sums  thereby  accrued  to  the  crown."  Bp. 
Nevi'ton's  Dissert,  vii. 

*  Isaiah  xvii.  12.  f  Ver.  13. 

^  Ver.  14.  Bp.  Lowth  confines  all  the  first  part  of  this  prophecy  to  the  tak- 
ing of  Damascus  by  Tiglath-Pileser,  his  overrunning  a  great  part  of  Israel,  and 
the  conquest  of  that  kingdom  and  the  captivity  of  the  people  effected  a  few  years 
after  by  Shalmaneser.  Hence  he  is  led  to  pronounce,  that  the  three  last  verses 
oi  the  \7th  chapter  have  no  relation  to  those  which  precede  them,  and  have  as 
little  connection  with  what  follows  ;  but  that  they  are  to  be  referred  solely 
to  the  invasion  und  overthrow  of  Sennacherib.  But  let  only  the  first  part  of  the 
prophecy  be  supposed  to  treat  ultimately  and  indeed  chiefly  of  the  dipersion  of 
the  yews  by  the  Rom,ans,  and  we  shall  immediately  perceive  the  close  con- 
nection of  the  whole.  From  the  dispersion  of  the  yews,  Isaiah  rapidly  passes 
to  the  overthrow  of  their  last  enemy  Antichrist,  and  to  their  restoration  by  som,e 
great  oyiaritime  power.  In  short,  so  far  from  these  different  predictions  being 
wholly  unconnected,  they  appear  to  me  to  be  inseparably  connected. 

§  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  p.  100. 


94 

that  shall  possess  the  empire  of  the  sea  at  the  time  when 
the  1260  years  shall  expire,  and  when  the  Jews  shall  be- 
gin to  return  into  their  own  land.  To  this  distant  nation 
the  prophet  calls  aloud,  and  summons  them  to  receive 
their  high  commission  from  the  Lord. 

Go,  swift  messengers^  unto  a  nation  long  appareritly 
Jbrsaken  by  God;  a  nation  dragged  away  from  their  orvfi 
country,  and  plucked;  a  nation  wonderful  from  their  be- 
ginning hitherto ;  a  nation  perpetually  expecting  their 
promised  Messiah,  and  yet  trampled  U7ider  foot ;  a  jiation 
whose  land  the  symbolical  rivers  of  foreign  invaders  have 
for  ages  spoiled*. 

"  We  have  now  heard  messengers  summoned.  We 
have  heard  a  command  given  to  them,  to  go  swiftly  with 
the  message.  We  have  heard  the  people  described,  to 
whom  the  message  was  to  be  carried.  It  might  be  ex- 
pected we  should  next  hear  the  message  given  to  the 
messengers  in  precise  terms.  But  in  })rophecy,  the  cur- 
tain (if  the  expression  maybe  allowed)  is  often  suddenly 
dropped  upon  the  action  that  is  going  on,  before  it  is 
finished ;  and  the  subject  is  continued  in  a  shifted  scene, 
as  it  were,  of  vision.  This  I  take  to  be  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  manner,  in  which  futurity  was  represented, 
in  emblematical  pictures,  to  the  imagination  of  the  pro- 
phet :  and  the  breaks  and  transitions  are  more  or  less 
sudden,  according  to  the  natural  turn  of  the  writer's  mind. 
In  Isaiah,  the  transitions  are  remarkably  sudden  and  bold; 
and  yet  this  suddenness  and  boldness  of  transition  is  sel- 
dom, I  think,  if  ever,  in  him  a  cause  of  obscurity.  In 
the  present  instance,  the  scene  of  messengers,  sent  upon  a 
message,  is  suddenly  closed  with  this  second  verse,  before 
the  messejigers  set  out,  before  even  the  message  is  given 

*  "  Go  swift  messengers  :  you,  who  by  your  skill  in  navigation  and  your  ex- 
tensive commerce  and  alliances,  are  so  qualified  to  be  caniers  of  a  messag-e 
to  people  in  the  remotest  countries,  g'o  with  God's  message  unto  a  nation 
dragged  aicay,  to  the  dispersed  Jews  ;  a  nation  drag-ged  away  from  its  proper 
seat,  and  plucked  of  its  wealth  and  power  ;  a  people  wonderful  from  the  be- 
ginning- to  this  very  time  for  the  special  providence,  wiiich  lias  ever  attended 
them  and  directed  their  fortunes;  a  nation  still  lingering  in  expectation  of 
the  Messiah,  who  so  long  since  came  and  was  rejected  by  them,  and  now  is 
coming  again  in  glory;  a  nation  universally  trampled  vmder  foot;  whose 
land,  rivers,  armies  of  foreign  invaders,  the  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Syro- 
Macedonians,  Romans,  Saracens,  and  Turks,  have  overrun  and  depopulated  " 
Letter  on  Isaiah  xvlii. 


95 

to  them.  But  the  new  objects,  which  are  immediately 
brought  in  view,  evidently  represent,  under  the  usual 
emblems  of  sacred  prophecy,  other  parts  of  the  same  en- 
tire action ;  and  declare,  with  the  greatest  perspicuity, 
the  purport,  the  season,  and  the  eftect,  of  the  message. 
An  ensign,  or  standard,  is  lifted  up  on  the  mountains — 
a  trumpet  is  blown  on  the  hills — the  standard  of  the  cross 
of  Christ — the  trumpet  of  the  Gospel*.  The  resort  to 
the  standard,  the  effect  of  the  summons  in  the  end,  will 
be  universal.  A  pruning  of  the  vine  shall  take  place,  af- 
ter a  long  suspension  of  visible  interpositions  of^rovi- 
dencef,  just  before  the  season  of  the  gatheriii^  of  the 
fruits.  A  vbie,  in  the  prophetic  language,  is  an^age  of 
the  chwcli  of  God ;  the  branches  of  the  vine  are  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  ;  and  the  useless  shoots,  and  unfruitful 
luxuriant  branches,  are  the  insincere  nominal  members  of 
the  church.    And  the  pruning  of  such  shoots  and  branches 

*  "The  banner  of  the  cross,  to  be  lifted  up  more  conspicuously  than  ever 
before  ;  the  trumpet  of  the  Gospel,  to  be  sounded  more  loudly,  than  ever 
before,  in  the  latter  ajjes."     Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii. 

\  "  Tliis  verse  (Isaiah  xviii.  4.)  represents  along'  cessation  of  visible  inter- 
positions of  Providence,  under  the  image  of  God's  sitting  still ;  the  stillness 
of  that  awful  pause,  under  the  imag'e  of  that  torpid  state  of  the  atmosphere 
in  hot  weather,  when  not  a  gleam  of  sunshine  breaks  for  a  moment  through 
tiie  sullen  gloom  ;  not  a  breath  stirs  ;  not  a  leaf  wags  ;  not  a  blade  of  grass  is 
sliaken  ,-  no  ripling  wave  curls  upon  the  sleeping  surface  of  the  waters  ;  the 
black  ponderous  cloud,  coverijig  the  whole  sky,  seems  to  hang  fixed  and 
motionless  as  an  arch  of  stone  ;  nature  seems  benumbed  in  all  her  operations. 
The  vigilance  nevertheless  of  God's  silent  providence  is  represented  under 
the  image  of  his  keeping  his  eye,  while  he  thus  sits  still,  upon  his  prepared 
habitation.  The  sudden  eruption  of  judgment,  threatened  in  the  next  verse, 
after  this  total  cessation,  just  before  the  final  call  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  an- 
swers  to  the  storms  of  thunder  and  lightning,  which,  in  the  suffocating  heats 
of  the  latter  end  of  summer,  succeed  that  perfect  stillness  and  stagnation  of 
the  atmosphere.  And,  as  the  natural  thunder,  at  such  seasons,  is  the  wel- 
come harbinger  of  refreshing  and  copious  showers  ;  so,  it  appears,  the  thun- 
der of  God's  judgments  will  usher  in  the  long  desired  season  of  the  consum- 
mation of  mercy.  So  accurate  is  the  allusion  in  all  its  parts."  Letter  on  IsaialA 
xviii. 

It  may  here  be  observed,  how  exactly  Scripture  corresponds  with  Scrip- 
ture. The  long  cessation  of  the  visible  interpositions  of  Pi'ovidence  has  led 
the  members  of  Antichrist  to  deny  that  such  interpositions  ever  took  place  : 
yet  in  this  very  denial  they  have  unwittingly  accomplished  the  prophecies. 
In  the  last  days  were  to  arise  scoffers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts,  con- 
temptuously asking  luhere  is  the  'promise  of  God's  comi?ig,  denying  that  the 
earth  was  ever  overwhelmed  by  the  deluge,  and  asserting  that  all  thing* 
continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation.  The  Lord  how- 
ever hath  already  begun  to  shake  both  the  political  heavens  and  the  political 
earth  ;  and,  ere  long  perhaps.  Infidelity  may  be  constrained  with  unwilling 
eyes  to  behold  the  restoration  of  Israel  amidst  such  signs  and  wonders,  as 
she  can  neither  contradict  nov  oppose. 


96 

of  the  vine  is  the  excision  of  such  hypocritical  profes- 
sorSj  at  least  the  separation  of  them  from  the  church  by 
God'^s  judgments.  This  verse  therefore  and  the  following 
clearly  predict  a  judgment  to  fall  upoji  the  church  for  its 
purification,  and  the  utter  destruction  of  hypocritical  pro- 
fessors of  the  truth*.  The  purification  of  the  Christian 
church,  by  the  awful  visitations  predicted  in  this  passage, 
seems  to  be  the  proper  preparative  for  the  renewal  of  the 
call,  to  them  that  are  near,  the  Jews ;  and  to  them  that 
are  yet  afar  off,  the  Gentile  tribes  not  yet  converted.  Im- 
mediately after  this  purgation  of  the  church,  at  the  very 
time  when  the  bird  of  prey  with  all  the  beasts  of  the 
earth,  Antichrist  -with  his  rebel  rout^  shall  have  fixed  his 
seat  between  the  seas,  in  the  holy  mountainf,  a  present 
shall  be  brought  to  the  Lord  of  hosts;  the  nation,  described 
in  ver.  2.  as  those  to  whom  the  swift  messengers  are  sent, 
after  their  long  infidelity,  shall  be  bro  jght  as  a  present  unto 
Jehovah.  They  shall  be  converted  to  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  truth ;  and  they  shall  be  brought  to  the  place .  of 
the  name  of  Jehovah,  to  mount  Sion :  they  shall  be  set- 
tled in  peace  and  prosperity,  in  the  land  of  their  original 
inheritance  J. 

"  This  then  is  the  sum  of  this  prophecy,  and  the  sub- 
stance of  the  message,  sent  to  the  people  dragged  about 
and  plucked.  That  in  the  latter  ages,  after  a  long  sus- 
pension of  the  visible  interpositions  of  Providence,  God, 
who  all  the  while  regards  that  dwelling  place  which  he 
never  will  abandon,  and  is  at  all  times  directing  the  events 
of  the  world  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  own  purposes 
of   Avisdom   and   mercy ;    immediately  before   the  final 

*  "  God,  in  the  latter  ages,  will  purify  liis  Church  with  sore  but  whole- 
some judgments.  Compare  John  XV.  1,  2."  (Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.)  These 
judgments  will  probably  be  the  troubles  occasioned  by  incessant  war. 

I  "  It  was  a  prevailing  opinion  among  the  early  fathers,  that  Antichrist  is 
to  possess  himself  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  that  there  he  is  to  perish."  (Let- 
ter on  Isaiah  xviii.)  This  opinion  was  manifestly  founded  on  Dan.  xi.  41,  45, 
not  to  mention  other  parallel  prophecies. 

i  "  AVhen  the  present  offered  consists  of  persons,  the  offered,  as  well  as 
the  offerers,  must  be  worshippers.  For  to  be  offered  is  to  be  inade  a  luorship' 
per  ;  or,  in  some  instances  to  be  devoted  to  some  particular  service  in  tnhich  the 
general  character  of  a  worshipper  is  previously  implied,  both  in  the  person  who 
hath  authority  so  to  devote,  and  in  the  devoted,  as  in  the  instances  of  Jeph- 
thah's  daughter  and  the  child  Samuel.  The  people  therefore,  brought  as  a 
present  to  Jehovah  to  mount  Zion,  will  bg  brought  thither  in  a  converted 
etate."    Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii. 


97 

"gathering  of  his  elect  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  will 
purify  his  church  by  such  signal  judgments,  as  shall  rouse 
the  attention  of  the  whole  world,  and,  in  the  end,  strike 
all  nations  with  religious  awe.     At  this  period,  the  apos- 
tate faction  will  occupy  the  holy  land.     This  faction  will 
certainly  be  an  instrument  of  those  judgments,  by  which 
the  church  will  be  purified.     That  purification  therefore 
is  not  at  all  inconsistent  with  the  seeming  prosperity  of 
the  affairs  of  the  atheistical  confederacy.     But,  after  such 
duration,  as  God  shall  see  fit  to  allow  to  the  plenitude  of 
its  power,  the  Jexvs^  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  will 
be  unexpectedly  restored  to  their  ancient  possessions. 
The  swift  messengers  will  certainly  have  a  considerable 
share,  as  instruments  in  the  hand  of  God,  in  the  restora- 
tion of  the  chosen  people.     Otherwise,  to  what  purpose 
are  they  called  upon  (Ver.  1.)  to  receive  their  commis- 
sion from  the  prophet  ?  It  will  perhaps  be  some  part  of 
their  business  to  afford  the  Jews  the  assistance  and  pro- 
tection of  their  fleets.     This  seems  to  be  insinuated  in 
the  imagery  of  the  first  verse.     But  the  principal  part, 
they  will  have  to  act,  will  be  that  of  the  carriers  of  GocPs 
message  to  his  people.     This  character  seems  to  describe 
some   Christian  country,  where   the  prophecies,  relating 
to  the  latter  ages,  will  meet  with  particular  attention ; 
where  the  literal  sense  of  those,  which  promise  the  re- 
storation of  the  Jexvish  people^  will  be  strenuously  up- 
held ;  and  where  these  will  be  so  successfully  expounded, 
as  to  be  the  principal  means,  by  God's  blessing,  of  remov- 
ing the  veil  from  the  hearts  of  the  Israelites — 

"  In  what  people  of  the  earth,  of  the  eastern  or  the 
western  world,  the  characters  of  the  messenger  people  may 
be  found,  when  the  time  shall  come  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  prophecy,  is  hitherto  uncertain  in  that  de- 
gree, that  we  are  hardly  at  liberty,  in  my  judgment  to 
conjecture.  But  I  cannot  but  say,  that  it  seems  in  the 
highest  degree  improbable,  that  the  atheistical  democracy 
of  France  should  be  the  people,  for  whom  the  honour  of 
that  office  is  intended.  The  French  democracy^  from  its 
infancy  to  the  present  moment,  has  been  a  conspicuous 
and  principal  branch  at  least  of  the  western  Antichrist. 
The  messenger  people  is  certainly  to  be  a  Christian  peo- 
ple. For  I  think  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  the  messenger 
13 


people  J  and  the  leaders  of  the  present  to  Jehovah  to  mount 
Sion,  art  the  same  people.  And  the  act  of  leading  a  pre- 
sent to  Jehovah  to  mount  Sion  must  be  an  act  of  wor- 
shippers of  Jehovah  ;  for  it  is  an  act  of  worship.  They 
therefore  who  lead  the  present  will  be  true  worshippers, 
performing  that  service  from  religious  motives.  Those, 
who  shall  thus  be  instruments  in  this  blessed  work,  may 
well  be  described,  in  the  figured  language  of  prophecy, 
as  the  carriers  of  God's  message  to  his  people.  The  si* 
tuation  of  the  country,  destined  to  so  high  an  office,  is 
not  otherwise  described  in  the  prophecy,  than  by  this  cir- 
cumstance ;  that  it  is  to  be  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush  : 
that  is,  far  to  the  west  of  Judea,  if  these  rivers  of  Cush 
are  to  be  understood,  as  they  have  been  generally  under- 
stood, of  the  Nile  and  other  Ethiopian  rivers  ;  far  to  the 
east,  if  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.  The  one,  or 
the  other,  they  must  denote  ;  but  AAhich,  is  uncertain — 

"  My  notion  of  the  proi:)het's  geographical  language  is, 
that  it  is  the  language  of  the  Phenician  voyagers  of  his 
time.  And,  in  those  times,  the  most  distant  voyages  be- 
ing made  along  the  coasts,  the  Phenician  mariners  would 
speak  of  every  place  which  lay  to  the  west  of  the  mouths 
of  the  Nile,  as  beyond  the  Nile,  that  is,  in  the  poetical 
language  of  the  prophet,  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush  ;  be- 
cause, keeping  always  along  the  coast,  they  would  pass 
within  sight  of  the  mouth  of  the  Nile,  before  they  reached 
that  western  place.  According  to  this  nautical  phraseo- 
logy of  the  voyagers  of  those  times,  the  circumstance  of 
being  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush  was  alike  applicable  to 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  Den- 
mark, in  short  any  part  of  Europe  without  the  streights. 
Not  more  to  any  part  of  Europe,  than  to  any  part  of 
Africa,  without  the  streights.  Not  more  to  any  part 
of  Europe  or  Africa,  than  to  the  whole  eastern  coast  of 
North  and  South  America.  The  particular  situation 
of  the  country  therefore  is  by  no  means  ascertained  by  this 
circumstance*."  Yet,  however  indefinite  the  present 
prophecy  may  be  in  fixing  the  precise  quarter  of  the 
globe  M^here  we  are  to  look  for  the  messenger  people, 
others,  which  will  be  discussed  hereafter  in  their  proper 
place,  give  us  sufficient  reason  to  believe  that  they  will 

*  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii 


99 

be  some  European  nation.  TFhat  European  nation  in- 
deed, is  wholly  uncertain ;  but  their  character,  as  de- 
scribed by  Isaiah,  necessarily  leads  us  to  conclude,  that 
they  will  be  a  maritime  nation  of  faithful  worshippers. 

The  prophet  has  now  foretold  the  chief  matters  rela- 
tive to  the  restoration  of  the  converted  Jews;  such  as  their 
being  opposed  unsuccessfully  by  the  army  of  Antichrist, 
and  their  being  assisted  in  their  return  to  their  own  coun- 
try by  a  great  maritime  nation  of  faithful  worshippers  : 
he  proceeds  therefore  next  to  detail  certain  collateral 
events,  which  will  be  closely  connected  with  their  resto- 
ration. He  had  already  foretold  in  a  former  prophecy*, 
that  the  Lord  should  smite  with  a  drought  the  tongue  of 
the  Egyption  sea,  and  that  he  should  shake  his  hand  over, 
the  great  river  of  Assyria  with  a  vehement  wind ;  in  order 
that  there  might  be  a  high- way  for  the  remnant  of  his 
people,  and  that  they  might  return,  as  they  did  of  old  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt.  He  now  enters  more  diffusely  upon 
the  subject,  connecting  it,  as  before,  both  with  the  ex- 
ploits of  Antichrist,  and  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews. 
In  a  strain  of  awful  sublimity,  he  represents  the  Almighty 
as  riding  upon  a  swift  cloud,  and  as  confounding  the  coun- 
sels of  Egypt;  as  sowing  discord  among  her  governors, 
and  as  giving  her  over  into  the  hand  of  cruel  lords  and  a 
fierce  king.  The  tyrant  and  his  inferior  lords,  here  des- 
cribed, I  take  to  be  Antichrist  and  his  vassal  kings,  during 
the  period  of  his  temporary  success.  In  a  parallel  prophecy 
of  Daniel,  his  character  is  largely  set  forth  :  and  it  is  inti- 
mated, that,  at  the  epoch  of  the  resto?'atio?i  of  the  Jews, 
the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape  him  ;  but  that  he  shall 
have  power  over  the  treasures  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and 
over  all  the  precious  things  of  Egypt ;  and  that  the  Liby- 
ans and  Cushim  shall  be  at  his  stepsf.  Hence  Isaiah,  in 
perfect  accordance  with  Daniel,  predicts,  that,  at  this 
very  epoch,  Egypt  shall  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  a 
fierce  king :  for,  that  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  fierce: 
king  is  to  be  referred  to  this  epoch,  will  be  manifest  to 
any  one,  who  compares  the  language  used  by  Isaiah  in  his 
former  prophecy  with  that  which  he  uses  at  the  close  of 
the  present  prophecy.     In  the  former,  he  foretells,  that 

*  Isaiah  XI.  15,  16.  I  Dan.  xi.  41.— xii.  I. 


loa 

there  shall  be  a  high-way  for  tlie  remnant  of  his  people 
that  shall  be  left  from  Assyria  :  in  the  present,  he  simi- 
larly foretells,  that,  notwithstanding  the  success  oithe  An- 
tichristian  tyrant,  God  m  ill  deliver  Egypt  by  the  hand  of 
a  mighty  Saviour,  convert  it  to  the  profession  of  real  re- 
ligion, and  cause  a  high- way  to  be  made  between  it  and 
Assyria  tlirough  the  land  of  Israel,  so  that  there  shall  be 
a  free  religious  intercourse  between  the  three  countries. 
And  this,  according  to  both  prophecies,  is  to  be  effected 
by  the  drying  up  of  the  mystical  Nile  ;  and,  according  to 
the  Jbrmer  prophecy,  by  the  drying  up  both  of  the  Eu- 
phrates and  the  Nilc^. 

As  for  tlie  manner  in  which  Isaiah  describes  the  reli- 
gious state  of  Egypt  at  the  period  when  it  will  be  invad- 
ed by  Antichrist,  he  seems  in  this,  as  in  other  instancesf, 
to  exhibit  it  to  us,  rather  according  to  what  it  was  in  his 
own  days,  than  what  it  probably  will  be  in  the  age  of  the 
accomplishment  of  the  prophecy  :  yet  it  is  worthy  of  no- 
tice, that  the  prophecy  is  not  incapable  of  receiving  even 
a  literal  accomplishment.  By  the  intermixture  of  the  cor- 
rupt Christians  of  the  Greek  church  with  the  professors 
of  Mohammedism,  much  idolatr)'  still  prevails  in  Egypt ; 
which  we  cannot  conceive  to  be  more  acceptable  to  God, 
than  either  its  kindred  papal  idolatry,  or  the  ancient  pagan 
idolatry  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  even  some  of  the 
Mohammedans  themselves,  according  to  Niebuhr,  ai"e 
tainted  w  ith  the  superstitious  veneration  of  images,  which 
disgraces  the  worship  of  their  Christian  fcllo w- citizens  f. 

*  Let  the  reader  compare  together  Isaiah  xi.  15,  16,  and  Isaiah  six.  5,  23, 
24  ;  and  he  must,  I  think,  be  convinced  that  both  these  predictions  relate  to 
the  same  events.  In  this  case,  since  Isaiah  xi.  15,  16,  must  plainly  be  refer- 
red to  the  era  of  tlie  restoration  of  jfudah,  tlie  whole  of  Isaiah  xix  must  like- 
wise be  referred  to  the  same  era.  Tlie  propriety  of  such  a  conclusion  will  be 
the  more  evident,  if  he  further  compare  both  tliese  prophecies  with  Zechar. 
X.  10,  11,  12  ;  which,  hke  Isaiah  xi.  15,  16,  will  clearly  not  be  accomplished 
till  the  ^«y«  are  brought  back  into  the  land  of  their  fathers. 

•j^  Such  an  instance  occurs  indeed  even  in  the  course  of  the  very  prophecy 
concerning  wliich  I  am  now  treating.  "  And  tiie  Lord  shall  be  known  to 
Egypt ;  and  the  Egyptians  sliall  know  the  Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall  do  sa- 
crifice and  oblation  ;  yea,  they  o.iallvow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord,  and  perform 
it."  (Isaiah  xix.  21.)  Upon  which  Bp.  Newton  justly  remarks,  that  "the 
prophet  describes  the  worsliip  of  future  times,  according  to  the  rites  and  ce- 
remonies of  his  own  time."     Dissert,  xii.  3. 

i  See  Niebuhr's  Travels,  Vol.  1.  pp.  35,  47,  103, 195.  In  Skinner's  Eccles. 
Hist  of  Scotland,  Vol.  11.  p.  6o4~639,  there  is  a  curious  account  of  an  at- 


iOl 

But  1  am  more  inclined  to  adopt  the  other  interpretation 
of  this  part  of  the  prophecy,  and  to  suppose  that  Isaiah 
describes  Egypt  agreeably  to  what  it  was  in  his  own  age. 

The  exhaustion  of  the  river ^  which  he  dwells  upon  with 
so  much  minuteness,  is  plainly,  according  to  the  usual 
phraseology  of  Symbols,  nothing  more  than  the  overthrow 
of  the  Egyptian  government  with  its  concomitants.  These 
concomitants^  as  in  the  case  of  the  exhaustion  of  the  great 
river  Euphrates  under  the  sixth  apocalyptic  vial^,  seem 
to  be  a  diminutioji  of  the  population  ofEgypt^  and  an  emi- 
gration of  its  inhabitants ;  for  such  is  the  most  natural 
exposition  that  can  be  given  of  the  drying  up  of  its  river ^ 
and  the  diversion  of  its  streams  into  other  channels. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  population  of  Egypt  has 
already  begun  to  diminish,  much  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  population  of  Turkey,  which  must,  almost  undoubt- 
edly I  think,  be  considered  as  symbolized  by  the  mysti- 
cal Euphrates  of  the  siopth  vial. 

"  Alexandria,"  says  Mr.  Niebuhr,  *'  has  fallen  by  de- 
grees from  its  grandeur,  population,  and  wealth — This 
city  might  be  in  a  more  flourishing  condition,  did  not 
disadvantages  of  all  sorts  concur  to  depress  it.  Its  inha- 
bitants appear  to  have  a  natural  genius  for  commerce, 
were  it  not  checked  by  the  malignant  influence  of  the 
government — The  trade  of  Alexandria  is  notwithstand- 
ing verj^  trifling ;  although  almost  all  the  nations  of  Egyptf 
have  consuls  herej — Ancient  historians  and  geographers 
enumerate  such  a  multitude  of  cities  in  Egypt,  that  it 
seems  to  be  at  present  quite  a  desert  in  comparison,  with 
what  it  was  in  the  day  of  antiquity.  New  cities  have 
indeed  arisen,  but  these  are  mere  trifles,  compared  with 
the  number,  the  extent,  and  the  magnificence,  of  the 

tempt  that  was  made,  between  the  years  1716  and  1725,  to  effect  an  union 
between  the  non-juring' prelates  and  those  of  the  Greek  church.  The  at- 
tempt failed  from  the  resolute  adherence  of  the  Orientals  to  image-worship 
*nd  other  superstitious  vanities. 

*  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years,  Vol.  11.  p.  345—349.  (2d  Edit.  p. 
383—387.) 

f  So  the  passage  stands  in  my  edition  of  Niebuhr,  and  therefore  I  have  not 
ventured  to  alter  it ;  but  for  Egypt  1  think  we  ought  surely  to  read  Europe. 
As  this  variation  is  not  noticed  in  the  errata,  it  is  possible  that  this  little  mis- 
take (for  so  I  cannot  help  considering  it)  may  be  an  uncorrected  oversight  of 
the  author  himself. 

t  Travels,  Vol.  i.p.  36,  37- 


102 

ancient.  All  the  remains  of  monuments,  referable  to  the 
most  remote  antiquity,  bespealc  the  hand  of  a  numerous 
and  opulent  people,  who  have  entirely  disappeared.  When 
however  we  reflect  on  the  re\'olutions  which  this  countr\' 
has  undergone,  and  the  length  of  time  during  which  it 
has  been  under  the  dominion  of  strangers,  we  can  no 
longer  be  surprized  at  the  decline  of  its  wealth  and  po- 
pulation. It  has  been  successively  subdued  by  the  Per- 
sians, the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Arabians,  and  the 
Turks  ;  has  enjoyed  no  interval  of  tranquillity  and  free- 
dom ;  but  has  been  constantly  oppressed  and  pillaged  by 
the  lieutenants  of  a  distant  lord.  Those  usurpers  and 
their  servants,  having  no  other  views  but  to  draw  as  large 
a  revenue  as  possible  from  an  opulent  province,  scarce 
left  the  people  bare  means  of  subsistence.  Agriculture 
was  ruined  by  the  miseries  of  the  husbandman ;  and  the 
cities  decayed  with  its  decline.  Even  at  present,  the 
population  is  decreasing  ;  and  the  peasant,  although  in  a 
fertile  country,  is  miserably  poor :  for  the  exactions  of 
government  and  its  officers  leave  him  nothing  to  lay  out 
in  the  improvement  and  culture  of  his  lands ;  while  the 
cities  are  falling  into  ruins,  because  the  same  unhappy 
restraints  render  it  impossible  for  the  citizens  to  engage 
in  any  lucrative  undertaking*^ — If  an  ancient  origin  and 
illustrious  ancestors  could  confer  merit,  the  Copts  would 
be  a  highly  estimable  people.  They  are  descended  from 
the  ancient  Egyptians  ;  and  the  Turks,  upon  this  account, 
call  them,  in  derision,  the  posterity  of  Pharaoh.  But 
their  uncouth  figure,  their  stupidity,  ignorance,  and 
wretchedness,  do  little  credit  to  the  sovereigns  of  ancient 
Egypt.  They  have  lived  for  2000  years  under  the  do. 
minion  of  different  foreign  conquerors,  and  have  experi- 
enced many  vicissitudes  of  fortune.  They  have  lost 
their  manners,  their  language,  their  religion,  and  almost 
their  existence.  They  are  reduced  to  a  small  number 
in  comparison  to  the  Arabs,  who  have  poured  like  a  flood 
over  this  country.  Of  the  diminution  of  the  numbers 
of  the  Copts  some  idea  may  be  formed  from  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  number  of  their  bishops.    They  were  seventy 

'  Travels,  Vol.  I.  p.  51,  52.      - 


103 

in  number,  at  the  period  of  the  Arabian  conquest.  They 
are  now  only  twelve,  and  most  of  these  settled  in  upper 
Egypt,  to  which  the  ancient  inhabitants  seem  to  have 
retired  from  the  centre  of  the  conquest  *." 

The  prophet  declares  in  a  most  pointed  manner,  that, 
previous  to  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Jierce  king,  it 
should  be  torn  to  pieces  by  internal  dissention  and  civil 
discord.  Here  again  we  may,  as  it  were  with  our  own 
eyes,  begin  to  see  this  prediction  receive  its  accomplish- 
ment. "  The  Turks,"  says  Mr.  Niebuhr,  "  as  is  gene- 
rally known,  conquered  Egypt,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  from  the  Mamelukes  ;  a  mercenary 
militia,  who  had,  for  some  centuries,  usurped  the  go- 
vernment of  this  province,  which  they  administered  by 
an  elective  chief,  with  the  title  of  Sultan.  This  species 
of  government  seems  still  to  subsist,  just  as  much  as  be- 
fore the  Turkish  conquest ;  and,  with  all  their  despotic 
pride,  they  have  never  attempted  to  change  it.  A  form  of 
government,  that  has  prevailed  so  long,  and  which  a 
haughty  and  powerful  conqueror  durst  not  abolish,  must 
have  within  itself  some  principle  of  stability  to  maintain 
it  against  revolution.  It  might  deserve  to  be  better  known 
and  explained  by  some  intelligent  person,  who  should 
study  it  in  a  long  residence  in  the  country.  A  traveller 
like  me,  who  has  had  only  a  transient  view  of  these  ob- 
jects, can  neither  discern  nor  describe  all  the  parts  of  so 
complete  a  machine.  I  have  learned  enough  however  to 
enable  me  to  distinguish,  that  this  government  is  at  pre- 
sent  an  aristocracy,  partly  civil,  partly  military,  but  chiefly 
military.  Under  the  protection,  rather  than  under  the 
authority,  of  the  Sultan  of  Constantinople,  a  divan,  or 
sovereign  council,  exercises  the  supreme  authority,  both 
executive  and  legislative.  Even  the  revenue  of  the  Sul- 
tan is  rather  a  tribute  paid  to  a  protector,  than  a  tax  levied 
by  a  sovereign — Such  a  government  must  be  frequently 
disturbed  by  factious  insurrections.  Caii'o  is  constantly 
convulsed  by  cruel  dissention  ;  parties  are  continually 
jarring  ;  and  the  great  retain  troops  to  decide  their  differ- 
ences by  force  of  arms.     The  mutual  jealousies  of  the 

*  Travels,  Vol.  1.  P.  103,  104. 


104 

chiefs  seem  to  be  the  only  causes,  which  still  preserve  to 
the  Porte  the  shadow  of  authority  over  this  countr}-.  The 
members  of  the  aristocracy  are  all  afraid  of  losing  their 
influence  under  a  residing  sovereign ;  and  therefore  agree 
in  opposing  the  elvation  of  any  of  their  own  body  to  the 
supreme  dignity.     In  our  o\\t;i  days,  ^/z-^^-y  has  found 
how  difficult  it  is  to  ascend  the  throne  of  Egypt,  or  to 
jnaintan  one's  self  upon  it.     The  grand  signior  sends  al- 
ways a  pacha  of  three  tails  to  exercise  his  precarious  au- 
thority in  Egypt,  in  the  character  of  governor.     But  the 
pacha  of  Cairo,  far  from  enjoying  the  same  authority  as 
the  other  pachas  of  the  Turkish  empire,  is  entirely  de- 
pendent on  the  Egyptian  divan.    That  aristocratical  body, 
regarding  the  pacha  as  their  tyrant,  frequently  depose 
him,  unless  he  have  the  address  to  support  himself  by 
provoking  and  fomenting  the  contentions  of  the  different 
parties,  favouring  each  by  turns.     During  my  stay  at 
Alexandria,  the  inhabitants  of  Cairo  expelled  their  pacha. 
Miistapha  pacha  wsis  at  ihe  same  time  in  Egypt,  who  had 
been  already  twice  grand  vizir,   and  rose  afterwards  a 
third  time  to  that  dignity.  Having  been  sent  by  the  Sul- 
tan to  Djklda,  he  had  remained  in  Egypt,  on  pretence  of 
illness.     The  inhabitants  chose  Mustapha  their  pacha, 
and  found  means  to  oblige  the  Sultan,  however  dissatis- 
fied with  the  electors  and  the  person  ^vhom  they  had 
elected,  to  confirm  their  choice.     But  the  new  pacha 
kept  his  place  only  seven  months,  and  wiis  then  obliged 
to  yield  it  to  another  from  Constantinople.     The  latter 
died  suddenly,  upon  the  arrival  of  a  Kapigi-Bachi,  who 
was  sent  after  him  by  the  Sultan.     Thus,  in  the  short 
time  while  I  was  in  Eg)'pt,  three  governors  succeeded 
each  other  rapidly  in  the  government  of  that  province* — 
In  a  city,  like  Cairo,  inhabited  by  a  number  of  petty 
tyrants,  w  ho  are  ever  at  variance  among  themsd^'es,  and 
seeking  each  other's  ruin,  and  who  often  proceed  to  open 
violence  in  determining  their  quarrels,  private  persons 
can  never  consider  themselves  as  in  absolute  securit}-. 
The  narrowness  of  the  streets,  and  the  crowds  which 
are  constantly  pressing  through  them,  are  fa^  ourable  to 

*  Travels,  Vol.  i.  P.  ^3— 76 


105 

disorder.      Yet  fewer  instances  of  robber}'-,  theft,  and 
murder,  are  heard  of  here  than  in  the  great  cities  of  Eu- 
rope— The  magistrates  contribute  to  the  public  security 
by  very  prompt  administration  of  justice — All  the  streets 
of  Cairo  have  gates,  which  are  shut  at  night ;  but  a  por- 
ter waits  to  open  to  those,  who  can  allege  satisfactory 
reason  for  passing  from  one  street  to  another,  and  ap- 
proach with  a  light  in  their  hands.     The  man,  for  a 
small  acknowledgment,  opens  the  gate,  but  stops  every 
suspected  person.     This  regulation  prevents  nocturnal 
assemblies  and  tumults  among  the  people.     It  at  the 
same  time  so  entirely  separates  the  several  quarters  of 
the  city,  tliat  the  Beys  often  contend  with  open  violence, 
while  the  other  inhabitants  know  nothing  of  the  matter* 
— The  Bedouins^  or  wandering  Arabs,  being  free,  almost 
independent,  and  rather  tributary  allies  than  subjects  of 
the  Egyptian  government,  are  the  most  remarkable  branch 
of  the  nation.  They  are  divided  into  tribes,  governed  by 
hereditary  chiefs  called  Schieclis^  and  these  subordinate 
to  a  great  Schiech,  who  has  authority  over  several  tribes. 
Upon  paying  a  certain  tribute  to  government,  the  Bedou- 
ins  are  permitted  to  feed  their  flocks  tlirough  the  rich 
pasturage  grounds  of  Egypt.    But  they  frequently  abuse 
this  permission,  and  pillage  without  distinction  as  well  the 
husbandmen  in  the  districts  in  which  they  encamp,  as 
those  tra\^ellers  who  have  the  misfortune  to  fall  into  their 
hands.     They  are  ready  too  to  take  part  in  the  dissen- 
tions,  which  frequently  arise  in  this  military  republic. 
When  government  attempts  to  punish  them  or  to  con- 
strain them  to  their  duty,  they  either  defend  themselves 
by  force,  or  retire  into  the  deserts  till  their  misdemea- 
nours be  forgotten  f." 

Such  is  the  government  of  Egypt ;  a  government, 
which  evidently  is  impregnated,  by  the  very  nature  of  its 
constitution,  with  the  seeds  of  eternal  discord.  Such 
were  the  effects,  which  naturally  resulted  from  it  in  the 
year  1761,  when  Mr.  Niebuhr  had  an  opportunity  of 
observing  them.  Such  likewise  were  its  effects  at  a  yet 
later  period,  as  manifested  since  the  year  1798  in  similar 

*  Travels,  Vol.  x.  p.  9G— 8K.  f  ^^id.  p.  1G8. 

14 


106 

violent  contentions  among  the  rival  Beys.  And  such, 
though  in  a  much  more  violent  degree,  will,  I  doubt  not, 
be  its  effects  immediately  before  the  final  conquest  of 
Egypt  by  the  fierce  king  of  Isaiah,  or  the  wilful  king  of 
Daniel. 

It  is  highly  worthy  of  notice,  that,  as  we  draw  near  to 
the  time  of  the  c-zzJandthe  accomplishment  of  those  pro- 
phecies M"hich  relate  to  the  restoration  of  the  Je^vs^  the 
attention  of  the  great  political  world  has  been  in  a  remaka- 
ble  manner  turned  towards  Palestine  and  Egypt.     An  at- 
tempt has  been  already  made  by  Antichrist  to  establish 
himself  in  those  regions  :  and  it  failed  of  success  only,  I 
believe,  because  it  was  prematurely  undertaken.     The 
following  extract  from  an  intercepted  letter,  written  by 
an  £tat  Major  in  Buonaparte's  army,   and  dated  Gi'and 
Cairo,  July  28,  1798,  sufficiently  proves,  that  an  estab- 
lishment in  Egypt  and  Syria  was  the  object  of  this  ma- 
rauding expedition,  with  an  ultimate  view  to  the  English 
settlements  in  India.  "  The  government  have  turned  their 
eyes  towards  Egypt  and  Syria  ;  countries,  which,  by  their 
climate,  goodness,  and  fertility  of  soil,   may  become  the 
granaries  of  tlie  French  commerce,    her  magazine  of 
abundance,  and  in  course  of  time  the  depositor}^  of  the 
riches  of  India.     It  is  most  indubitable,  that,  when  pos- 
sessed of,  and  regularly  organized  in,  these  countries,  we 
may  throw  our  views  still  farther  ;  and,  in  the  end,  destroy 
the  English  commerce  in  the  Indies,  turn  it  to  our  own 
profit,  and  render  ourselves  the  sovereigns  also  of  that  of 
Africa  and  Asia.     All  these  considerations  united  have 
induced  our  government  to  attempt  the  expedition  to 
Egypt.    That  part  of  the  Roman  power  has  been  govern- 
ed, for  many  ages,  by  a  species  of  men  called  Mamalucs^ 
\\\\o  have  Beys  at  the  head  of  each  district.     These  deny 
the  authority  of  the  Grand  Siguier,  governing  themselves 
tyrannically  and  despotically  a  people  and   a  c6untry, 
which,  in  the  hands  of  a  polished  nation,  would  become 
a  source  of  wealth  and  profit*."     The  manner,  in  which 
this  scheme  was  conducted,  was  by  an  attempt  to  sow 
discord  between  the  Beys  and  the  Egyptians  ;  the  very 

*  eited  bj-  Kett,  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol  ir,  p.  2^8-. 


107 

manner,  in  short,   in  which,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
from  prophecy,  the  yet  future  project  of  Antichrist  will  be 
conducted.      The  apostate  miscreant,   who  then  com- 
manded the  French  army,  and  who  now  disgraces  the  im- 
perial title,  thus  addressed  by  proclamation  the  natives  of 
Egypt.     "  In  the  name  of  God,   gracious  and  merciful. 
There  is  no  God,  but  God ;    he  has  no  Son  or  associate 
in  his  kingdom.     The  present  moment,  which  is  destin- 
ed for  the  punishment  of  the  Beys,  has  been  long  anxi- 
ously expected.     The  Beys,  coming  from  the  mountains 
of  Georgia  and  Bajars^  have  desolated  this  beautiful  coun- 
try.    Buonaparte,  the  general  of  the  French  republic,  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  of  liberty,  is  now  arrived  ;   and 
the  Almighty,  the  Lord  of  both  worlds,  has  sealed  the 
destruction  of  the  Beys.     Inhabitants  of  Egypt !   when 
the  Beys  tell  you  the  French  are  come  to  destroy  your 
religion,   believe  them  not :   it  is  an  absolute  falshood. 
Answer  those  deceivers,  that  they  are  only  come  to  rescue 
the  rights  of  the  poor  from  the  hands  of  their  tyrants,  and 
that  the  French  adore  the   Supreme  Being,  and  honour 
the  Prophet  and  his  holy  Koran.     All  men  are  equal  in 
the  eyes  of  God :  understanding,  ingenuity,  and  science, 
alone  make  a  difference  between  them  :  as  the  Beys  there- 
fore do  not  possess  any  of  these  qualities,  they  cannot  be 
worthy  to  govern  the  country — The  Supreme  Being,  who 
is  just  and  merciful  towards  all  mankind,   wills,  that  in 
future  none  of  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  shall  be  prevented 
from  attaining  to  the  first  employments  and  the  highest 
honours.     The  administration,  which  shall  be  conducted 
by  persons  of  mtelligence,  talents,  and  foresight,  will  be 
productive  of  happiness  and  security.     The  tyranny  and 
avarice  of  the  Beys  have  laid  waste  Egypt,   which  was 
formerly  so  populous  and  well  cultivated.     The  French 
are  true  Mussulmans — They  have  at  all  times  been  the 
true  and  sincere  friends  of  the  Ottoman  Emperors,  and 
the  enemies   of  their  enemies.     May  the  empire  of  the 
Sultan  therefore  be  eternal ;  but  may  the  Beys  of  Egypt, 
our  opposers,  whose  insatiable  avarice  has  continually  ex- 
cited disobedience  and  insubordination,  be  trodden  in  th© 
dust  and  annihilated !  Our  friendship  shall  be  extended 
to  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Eg}^pt  who  shall  join  us,  as 


also  to  those  who  shall  remain  in  their  dwellingis  and  ob- 
serve a  strict  neutrality,  and  when  they  have  seen  our 
conduct  with  then-  own  eyes  hasten  to  submit  to  us  ;  but 
the  dreadful  punishment  of  death  awaits  those,  who  shall 
take  up  arms  for  the  Beys  and  against  us.  For  them 
there  shall  be  no  deli\Trance,  nor  shall  any  trace  of  them 
remain — All  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  shall  offer  up  thanks 
to  the  Supreme  Being,  and  put  up  public  prayers  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Beys.  May  the  Supreme  God  make 
the  glory  of  the  Sultan  of  the  Ottomans  eternal,  pour 
forth  his  Avrath  on  the  Mamalucs,  and  render  glorious  the 
destiny  of  the  Egyptian  nation*.'' 

This  man,  this  tender  respecter  of  the  rights  of  na- 
tions and  individuals,  has  since  become  Emperor  of  the 
French;  and,  yet  more  recently,  like  Charlemagne,  the 
uncontrolled  Emperor  of  the  West.  There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose,  that  success  will  render  him  less  ambitious  ; 
or  that  his  conquests  in  Europe  will  induce  him  to  give 
up  his  schemes  against  Palestine  and  Egypt.  We  may 
frequently  observe  a  sort  of  undecided  coincidence  in  the 
inspired  w  riters,  and  in  no  instance  perhaps  more  than  in 
the  present.  It  is  predicted,  that,  at  the  time  of  the  end, 
Antichrist  and  his  vassals  shall  invade  the  East,  and  op- 
pose the  return  of  tJie  converted  Jews ;  but  that  some 
mighty  maritime  nation^  evidently  hostile  to  Antichrist^ 
shall  be  the  earners  of  God's  message  to  them,  and  the 
appointed  instruments  of  bringing  them  as  a  present  to  the 
Lord  of  hosts.  Now  Joel  styles  the  army  of  Antichrist 
the  northern  army\ ;  by  vrhich,  I  think,  we  can  only  un- 
derstand, that  to  a  person  in  the  holy  land  it  should  ap- 
pear as  coming  from  the  north.  Such  being  the  case,  the 
route  of  Antichrist  will  be  through  Greece  and  Asia 
Minor ;  unless  indeed,  what  is  not  very  probable,  we 
suppose  him  to  circuit  the  Euxine.  Accordingly  Daniel 
represents  his  progress  as  being  by  land,  and  not  by  sea  ; 
as  being  an  expedition,  in  which  he  should  enter  into  the 
countries  and  overjloiv  and  pass  over.,  previous  to  his  en- 
tering also  into  the  glorious  land.,  and  previous  to  the  land 
tf  Egypt  not  escaping  him\.     But  why  should  this  expe- 

»  Cited  by  Rett,  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.    ii.  p.  258— 26J. 
•J  Joel  ii.  20.  i  D*n.  xi.  40—45. 


10^ 

dition  be  undertaken  by  land,  rather  than  by  sea  ?  The 
answer  is  afforded  us  by  Isaiah,  in  the  course  of  the  pro- 
phecy now  under  consideration  :  a  mighty  maritime  power 
shall  be  friendly  to  the  converted  Jews^  and  therefore  hos- 
tile to  Antichrist ;  consequently  the  same  fleets,  which  will 
assist  in  the  restoration  of  the  former,  will  be  an  effectual 
obstacle  to  any  maritime  expedition  upon  a  large  scale 
undertaken  by  the  latter.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that,  as 
the  prophets  exactly  coincide  with  each  other  respecting 
the  route  of  Antichrist  being  by  land  and  not  by  sea,  so 
the  existing  posture  of  affairs  exactly  coincides  with  the 
declarations  of  the  prophets.  In  the  first  edition  of  my 
Dissertation  on  the  1260  days^  I  had  not  an  opportunity 
of  noticing  the  direful  conclusion  of  the  war  between 
France  and  Austria ;  a  war  undertaken  with  every  rea- 
sonable human  prospect  of  success,  yet  a  war  which  has 
given  to  a  foreign  usurper  the  sceptre  of  Charlemagne  :  I 
could  only  then  observe  in  general  terms,  that,  without 
presuming  to  foretell  its  issue,  the  Christian  could  not 
reasonably  doubt  that  the  hand  of  God  is  now  stretched 
forth  over  the  earth  in  a  peculiar  and  remarkable  manner  ; 
and  that  all  things  would  assuredly  work  together  to  ful- 
fil those  prophecies  which  yet  remain  unaccomplished, 
and  to  prepare  a  way  for  the  last  tremendous  manifesta- 
tions of  God's  wrath*.  The  battle  of  Austerlitz  has  since 
decided  the  fate  oi  the  Roman  Emperor\^  and  has  opened 
to  Buonaparte  a  free  passage  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
Turkish  dominions  :  nor  can  he  surely  be  deemed  guilty 
of  any  very  great  presumption,  who  is  inclined  to  believe, 
that  the  late  signal  humiliation  of  Austria,  and  her  con- 
strained cession  to  France  of  Istria,  Friuli,  and  Dalmatia, 
serve  only  to  pave  the  way  for  the  last  tremendous  enter- 
prize  of  the  infidel  king.  The  doxvnfal  of  the  Ottoman 
empire^  predicted  under  the  sixth  vial,  is  placed  by  St. 
John  previous  to  the  expedition  of  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  into  Palestine,  and  is  apparently  represented  by 
him  as  being  preparatory  to  it.  What  length  of  time  in- 
deed may  be  occupied  in  the  preparations  for  this  expe-^ 

*  Postscript  to  Preface,  1st  Edit. 

f  Subsequent  to  my  writing-  this,  the  chief  of  the  house  of  Austria  has 
formally  a'.xlicated  the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  and  has  been  constrain- 
ed to  dissolve  officially  the  Germanic  eonstitution.    August  1806. 


110 

ditton,  the  Apostle  does  not  determine ;  tliat  a/considera- . 
ble  length  of  time  will  be  necessary  for  the  complete  or- 
ganization of  the  great  confederacy ^  seems  only  reasona- 
ble to  imagine  ;  but  that  the  fall  of  the  Ottoman  empire 
will  pave  the  way  for  it,  appears  to  be  almost  asserted  by 
St.  John. 

The  tenor  both  of  the  present  and  the  preceding  pro- 
phecy necessarily  leads  us  to  conclude,  that,  at  the  period 
of  their  accomplishment,  the  Jews  will  abound  in  the  land 
of  Egypt.  Mr.  Niebuhr  accordingly  informs  us,  that 
"  the  Jews  are  the  most  numerous  class  in  Ciaro,  next 
after  the  Mohammedans  and  the  Copts.  Some  Phari- 
sees or  Talmudists  reside  here,  as  well  as  Karaites  ;  who, 
though  not  numerous,  have  a  synagogue  of  their  own. 
The  Talmudists  are  numerous  and  powerful.  They 
have  long  farmed  all  the  customs  ;  an  undertaking,  which 
brings  them  both  wealth  and  credit.  In  the  republican 
government  of  Egypt  they  find  it  easier  to  gain  steady 
protectors,  than  in  the  other  provinces  of  Turkey,  where 
all  depends  upon  the  caprice  of  a  Pacha  who  knows  not 
how  soon  he  niay  lose  his  place,  or  of  the  superintendant 
of  the  customs  who  resides  in  Constantinople.  One' 
proof  of  the  consequence,  which  the  Jexvs  enjoy  under 
the  aristocracy  of  Cairo,  is,  that  the  offices  of  the  cus- 
toms are  shut  u]3on  their  sabbath,  and  no  goods  can  pass 
on  that  day,  although  belonging  to  Christians  or  Mus- 
sulmans*." 

The  prophet,  having  now  foretold  the  temporary"  cala- 
mities which  the  Egyptians  should  experience  from  the 
mvasion  of  Antichrist,  proceeds  to  announce  their  conver- 
sion to  genuine  Christianity.  In  the  midst  of  their  trou- 
bles, when  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  because  of  their  op- 
pressors, he  shall  send  them  a  Saviour  and  a  Great  One, 
and  he  shall  deliver  them.  In  consequence  of  this  happ}- 
change  in  their  circumstances,  the  Lord  shall  be  kno^^'n 
to  Egypt ;  and  the  Egyptians  shall  know  the  Lord  in  that 
day,  and  shall  minister  sacrifice  and  oblation  :  Assyria 
likewise  shall  paitake  of  the  blessing,  and  join  with  Israel 
and  Egypt  in  praising  God.  Now,  since  this  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  is  the  evident  result  of  a  Saviour  and  a  Great 

*  Travels,  Vol.  i.  p.  102. 


Ill 

0?ie  being  sent  to  the  Egyptians^  I  know  not  what  person 
Ave  can  reasonably  understand  by  the  Saviour,  except 
the  Messiah. 

What  precise^t'e  cities  are  alluded  to,  as  adopting  the 
religious  confession  of  Canaan,  and  as  swearing  by  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  can  only  be  satisfactorily  determined  by 
the  event.  The  most  natural  explanation  seems  to  be, 
that  the  five  prijicipal  cities  of  Eg}  pt  are  considered  as 
including  all  the  rest ;  and  that  this  phraseology  is  only  a 
varied  method  of  declaring,  what  the  prophet  in  the 
course  of  the  same  prediction  more  explicitly  declares, 
that  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  should  be  converted  to  the 
profession  of  the  true  faith.  It  perhaps  may  not  be 
altogether  unworthy  of  notice,  that  D'iVnville,  in  his  map  of 
Egypt,  assigns  to  the  Delta  precisely  five  principal  cities, 
the  names  of  which  he  writes  in  capitals  :  Alexandria^ 
Hashid,  Damiat,  Eouah,  and  Mahalle  Kebir.  He  likewise 
divides  the  Delta  into  exactly  five  provinces :  Bahire^ 
Garble^  Dakelie^  Sharkie^  and  Menujie.  As  for  Cairo, 
it  is  situated  at  the  head  of  the  Delta^  somewhat  higher 
than  the  grand  division  of  the  Nile.  In  one  of  these  pro- 
\  inces  stood,  I  believe,  the  ancient  Heliopolis,  or  city  of 
tJie  Sun  *. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  present  prophecy,  Isaiah  pre" 
diets,  as  he  had  already  done  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
former  prophcQy,  that  there  should  be  a  close  intercourse 
and  religious  connection  between  Assyria,  Israel,  and 
Egypt.  They  should  be  united  together,  as  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  a  single  kingdom  are,  by  a  common  high- 
way ;  and  they  should  jointly  experience  the  benefit  of 
being  the  blessed  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  f. 

In  the  interpretation,  which  I  have  here  given  of  the 
19 th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  I  am  conscious  that  I  have  most 
materially  differed  from  Bp.  Newton  and  his  precursor 
Vitringa  ij:.  The  Bishop  conceives,  that  the  cruel  lords 
and  the  fierce  king  primarily  mean  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
the  Babylonians ;  but  principally  Cambyses,   Ochus^  and 

*  See  the  Map  prefixed  to  the  report  of  Citizen  Rjpaud. 
\  Compare  Isaiah  xi.  15,   16.  with  xix.  5,  23,  24,  25. 
4:  Ep  Lowth  follows  Bp.  Newtou  m  bi^  QpiniQn  respecting  the  accojnplish- 
■rnient  of  this  prppU^cy. 


112 

the  Persians  :  tliat  what  is  said,  respecting  the  exhaus- 
t:on  and  diversion  of  the  river ^  alludes  to  the  consequences 
of  the  subjection  and  slaveiy  to  which  Egypt  was  reduc- 
ed by  the  Persians,  her  poverty  and  want,  her  mourning 
and  lamentation,  her  confusion  and  misery :  that  the 
saviour  and  the  mighty  one,  who  delivered  the  Egyptians, 
is  Alexajider  the  great*  rthsX  their  conversion  is  the  par- 
tial diffusion  of  religious  knowledge  by  the  instrumentality 
of  the  Jeivs,  who  are  thence  represented  as  the  medium 
of  religious  connection  between  Egypt  and  Assyria :  that 
the  five  cities  were  Heliopolis^  mentioned  by  the  prophet 
himself,  and  four  others  spoken  of  by  Jeremiah  as  being 
the  places  of  the  residence  of  the  Jews  ;  namely,  Migdoly 
TahpanheSy  Noph,  and  some  other  in  the  country  of 
Pathros,  the  name  of  which  is  not  particularized :  and 
that  the  building  of  the  altar  in  the  midst  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  alludes  to  the  building  of  a  Jewish  temple  by  Onias 
i?i  the  prefecture  of  Heliopolis  \ . 

The  w  hole  of  this  interpretation  appears  to  me  to  fall 
very  far  short  of  the  most  natural  and  obvious  meaning 
of  the  original.  The  immediate  connection  of  the  \9th 
chapter  with  its  two  predecessors  certainly  leads  one  pri- 
ma facie  to  conclude,  that  its  subject  is  the  same  :  because 
we  find  Egypt  and  Assyria  similarly,  almost  indeed  in 
the  very  same  words,  connected  with  the  restoration  of 
the  Jews  by  Isaiah  himself  in  his  Wth  chapter  ;  because 
Zechariah  again,  still  almost  in  the  same  words,  unites  the 
restoration  of  Israel  with  die  fates  of  Egypt  and  Assy  ria^; 
and  because  Daniel  exactly  in  the  same  manner  predicts, 
that  at  the  era  of  tlie  restoration  of  the  Jews  Egypt  should 
be  conquered  by  Antichrist}.  But,  if  the  19th  chapter  of 
Isaiah  be  connected  with  the  restoration,  as  the  general 
harmony  of  prophecy  seems  to  requiie,  and  as  its  situa- 
tion immediately  after  the  17 th  and  18  th  chapters  natur- 
ally suggests,  I  know  not  now  it  can  have  any  relation  to 
events  long  since  past.   What  the  Bishop  says  respecting 

*  His  Lordship  seems  to  think,  tliatnot  only  Alexander  may  be  intended 
by  the  Saviour  and  the  great  one,  but  also  his  immediate  successor  in  Eg-ypt, 
Ptolemy,  who  like  himself  was  styled  the  great,  and  Ptolemy  Soter  or  the  Sa- 
•oiour.  This  play  upon  words  would  have  better  become  a  less  grave  com- 
mentator than  the  excellent  Newton,  t  Dissert,  xii. 
+  Zechar.  x.  10—12.               §  Dan.  xi.  42,  43,  xii.  U 


113 

tiie  cxiiaiistion  of  the  river  seems  scarcely  allowable  on 
the  common  principles  of  symbolical  interpretation.  If 
the  Nile  is  here  to  be  understood  figuratively,  the  drying 
up  a?jd  diversion  of  its  streams  can  with  difficulty  be  con- 
ceived to  mean  the  introdnctioii  of  poverty^  lamentation., 
and  confusion,  among  the  Egyptians :  it  would  rather  typi- 
fy, as  I  have  already  stated,  the  subversion  of  their  polity 
and  their  gradual  depopulation  and  emigration.  As  for  the 
Saviour  and  the  great  one,  the  evident  connection,  in 
which  that  person  is  placed  with  a  s^eneral  diffusion  of 
real  religion  throughout  Egypt,  will  not  allow  us,  with- 
out a  singular  degree  of  harshness,  to  suppose  him  to  be 
Alexander  the  great.  Whatever  increase  of  religion  there 
mi2;ht  be  in  Es-ypt  durintr  his  rei[rn  and  those  of  his  sue- 
cessors,  the  Egyptians,  as  a  nation,  were  undoubtedly 
idolaters.  The  same  remark  applies  with  equal  force  to 
the  Assyrians.  Hence  I  cannot  but  think  the  introduc- 
tion of  comparatively  a  fexv  Jews  into  those  countries  a 
most  imperfect  and  unsatisfactory  solution  oi  the  predict- 
ed religious  unity  of  Egypt,  Israel,  and  Assyria.  Is  it 
reasonable  to  believe,  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  would  esteem 
Israel  the  third  with  Egypt  and  Assyria,  even  a  blessing 
in  the  midst  of  the  land  ;  and  that  he  should  be  repre- 
sented as  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt  my  people,  and  Assy- 
ria the  work  of  my  hands,  and  Israel  mine  inheritance ; 
merely  because  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  the  Jexvs  captive 
to  Babylon,  and  because  many  of  the  same  people  had 
emigrated  to  Eg}'pt  in  the  days  of  Alexander  and  the 
Ptolemies  ?  How  then  will  our  doubt  respecting  the  pro- 
priety of  this  interpretation  be  increased,  when  we  find 
Bp.  Newton  himself  confessing,  that  the  Egyptian  Jews 
*'  WQY^  generally  \e.Yy  wicked  \ntn,  and  disobedient  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  that  upon  that  account  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  denounced  the  heaviest  judgments  against 
them."  His  Lordship  adds  indeed,  as  if  with  a  view  to 
anticipate  the  objection  which  so  naturally  arises  out  of 
his  own  statement,  that  "  some  good  men  might  be  ming- 
led among  them,  who  jnight  open  his  prophecies  to  the 
Egyptians,  and  they  themselves  when  they  saw  them  ful- 
filled might  embrace  the  Jewish  religion."  But  in  the 
case  of  a  prophecy,  which  is  said  to  be  already  accora* 
15 


114 

plished,  we  can  scarcely  allow  a  series  of  conjectures  to 
be  a  sufficient  exposition.  After  all,  even  granting  the 
conjectures  to  be  well-founded,  still  the  exposition  will 
be  incomplete^  Isaiah  manifestly  speaks  of  a  general  con- 
version of  the  whole  land  of  Egypt,  and  that  not  merely 
to  nominal  but  to  real  religion  :  hence,  when  he  peculi- 
arly mentions^re^  cities^  we  must  not  understand  him  as 
contradicting  and  limiting  the  rest  of  his  prediction,  but 
simply  as  alluding  to  five  principal  cities  which  he  consi- 
ders as  subincluding  all  the  rest*.  But  Bp.  Newton  in 
ti  great  measure  confines  the  conversion  to  the  Jive  cities ; 
and  even  in  those  j^i;c  cities  to  a  part  only  of  their  inha- 
bitants, the  Jexvs  and  their  Egyptian  proselytes.  Onias 
'  might  very  possibly  suppose  tlie  prophecy  to  have  been 
accomplished  in  liis  day  ;  or  rather,  with  a  view  to  what 
lie  conceived  would  be  the  accomplishment  of  it,  he  might 
allege  this  veiy  prophecy  to  the  king  and  queen  of  Egypt, 
in  order  to  induce  them  to  permit  him  to  build  a  temple 
to  God  in  the  prefecture  of  Heliopolis^  or  the  city  of  the 
Sun :  yet,  although  he  succeeded  in  his  plan,  it  is  not 
thereby  so  much  pro^  ed  that  the  prediction  was  then  re- 
ally accomplished,  as  that  he  was  willing  to  believe  it  to 
have  been  then  accomplished!.  In  fine,  Bp.  Newton 
himself  does  not  seem  perfectly  satisfied  with  his  own 
interpretation  :  he  allows,  that  the  prophecy  will  be  more 
amply  fulfilled  hereafter.  "  Thus,"  says  he,  "  by  the 
means  of  the  Jews  and  proselytes  dwelling  in  Egypt  and 
Syria,  Israel,  Egypt  and  Syria  were  in  some  measure 
imitcd  in  the  same  worship.  But  this  was  viore  fully  ac- 
complished, when  these  countries  became  Christian,  and 
so  were  made  members  of  the  same  body  in  Christ  Jesus. 
And  we  piously  hope  and  believe,  that  it  will  still  receive 
its  most  perfect  completion  in  the  latter  days,  when  Mo- 
hammedism  shall  be  rooted  out  and  Christianity  shall 
again  flourish  in  these  countries,  when  the  fulness  of  the 
Gentiles  shall  come  in  and  all  Israel  shall  be  saved."  To 
this  last  event,  I,  on  the  contrarj^,  caimot  refrain  from 

*  Compare  Tsaiah  xix.  18.  with  vcr.  21 — 25. 

•}•  Bp.  Lowth,  although  he  adopts  in  the  main  Bp.  Newton's  interpretation 
of  this  prophecy,  objects  much  in  the  same  manner  with  myself  to  the  appIL- 
•ation  of  thatpai't  ofit-,  which  speaks  of  f/ie  city  of  the  sun,  to  Onias. 


115 

thinking  that  the  prophecy  ought  to  be  altogether  con-^ 
fined,  for  reasons  which  have  ah'eady  been  sufficiently 
stated. 


PROPHECY  VII. 

Tlie  dispersion  of  the  Jews — Their  restoration  from  the  west — 
The  lamentation  of  Judah  on  account  of  the  treachery  of  Anti- 
christ— His  restoration  in  the  midst  of  great  political  troubles — 
The  overthi'ow  of  Antichrist — The  triumph  of  the  restored  Jews 
— iThe  certainty  of  their  restoration  and  of  the  overthrow  of  Anti- 
christ— The  exhaustion  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile. 

Isaiah  xxiv.  1.  Behold,  the  Lord  maketh  the  land 
empty,  and  layeth  it  waste,  and  turneth  it  upside  down, 
and  scattereth  abroad  the  inhabitants  thereof.  2.  And 
it  shall  be,  as  with  the  people,  so  with  the  priest ;  as  with 
the  servant,  so  with  his  master ;  as  with  the  maid,  so  with 
her  mistress  ;  as  with  tlie  buyer,  so  with  tlie  seller ;  as 
with  the  lender,  so  with  the  borrower  ;  as  with  the  taker 
of  usurj^  so  with  the  giver  of  usury  to  him.  3.  The 
land  shall  be  utterly  emptied,  and  utterly  spoiled  :  for  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  this  word.  4.  The  land  mourneth, 
nnd  fadeth  away,  the  world  languisheth  and  fadeth  away, 
the  haughty  people  of  the  land  do  languish.  5.  The 
land  also  is  defiled  beneath'  the  inhabitants  thereof  :  be- 
cause they  have  transgressed  the  laws,  changed  the  ordi- 
nance, broken  the  everlasting  covenant ;  6.  Therefore 
hath  a  curse  devoured  the  land,  and  they  that  dwell  there- 
in are  desolate ;  therefore  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  ai'C 
burned,  and  few  men  left-  7.  The  new  w  ine  mourneth,  the 
vine  languisheth,  all  the  merry-hearted  do  sigh.  8.  The 
mirth  of  tabrets  ceaseth,  the  noise  of  them  that  rejoice 
endeth,  the  joy  of  the  harp  ceaseth.  9.  They  shall  not 
drink  wine  with  a  song  ;  strong  drink  shall  be  bitter  to 
them  that  drink  it.  10.  The  city  is  broken  down  ;  it  is 
become  a  confused  heap  ;  every  house  is  shut  up,  so  that 
no  man  may  come  in.  11.  There  is  a  crying  for  wine 
in  the  streets  ;  all  joy  is  darkened  ;  the  mirth  of  the  land 
is  gone.     12.  In  the  city  is  left  desolation  ;  aad  the  gate 


116 

IS  smitten  with  destruction.  13.  For  thus  it  shall  be  in 
the  inmost  parts  of  the  land,  in  the  midst  of  the  people ; 
H  shall  be  as  the  gleaning  of  an  olive  tree,  as  the  strag- 
gling grapes  that  remain  v\  hen  the  vintage  is  done. 

14.  Yet  they  shall  lift  up  their  voice  ;  they  shall  exult 
in  the  majesty  of  the  Lord ;  they  shall  shout  from  the 
sea*.  15.  Wherefore  glorify  ye  the  Lord  by  Urim, 
the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  in  the  isles  of  the 
sea.  16.  From  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  ■\  have 
we  heard  songs,  even  glory  to  the  righteous  one.  But 
I  said,  ?vly  leanness,  my  leanness,  wo  unto  me !  the 
treacherous  dealers  have  dealt  treacherously  ;  yea,  the 
treacherous  dealers  have  dealt  very  treacherously. 

17.  Fear,  and  the  pit,  and  the  snare,  are  upon  thee, 
O  inhabitant  of  the  earth.  18.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
that  he,  who  fleeth  from  the  noise  of  the  fear,  shall  fall 
into  the  pit ;  and  he,  that  cometh  up  out  of  the  midst  of 
the  pit,  shall  be  taken  in  the  snare  :  for  the  fissures  on 
high  are  open,  and  the  foimdations  of  the  earth  do  shake. 
19.  The  earth  is  utterly  broken  down,  the  eaith  is  clean 
dissolved,  the  earth  is  moved  exceedingly.  20.  The 
earth  shall  reel  to  and  fro  like  a  drunkard,  and  shall  be 
removed  like  a  cottage  ;  and  the  transgression  thereof 
shall  be  heavy  upon  it ;  and  it  shall  fall,  and  not  rise 
again. 

21.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
Lord  sliall  send  his  visitation  upon  the  host  of  the  high 

*  They  shall  shout  from,  the  sea.'\  "  Or  from  the  isles  of  the  sea,  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed in  tlie  following  verse  ;  i.  c.  from  the  isles  of  the  western  or  medi- 
terranean sea,  w  hitlier  many  of  the  ^eivs  were  scattered,  and  from  whence 
they  should  return  into  their  own  coimtry  in  the  latter'days.  The  Hebi-ew 
word  Ijani  signifies  the  West  as  well  as  the  sea,  because  the  mediterranean 
sea  lay  westward  of  Jutlei  :  and  so  the  word  is  rendered  by  some  interpre- 
ters here.  This  verse  is  to  be  understood  of  the  final  restoration  of  the  Jevis."" 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

■j"  From,  the  uttermost  parts  fthe  earth. ~^  "  From  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  means  the  same  iisfrom  the  isles  rf  the  sea  in  the  foregoing  verses  :  from 
these  utmost  regions  have  we  heard  the  joyful  acknowledgment  of  the  righ- 
teous, praising  fiod  for  their  deliverance  and  for  all  the  glorious  things  he 
hath  done  for  ihem,  making  them  thereby  remarkable  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
as  his  favourites — We  may  observe,  that  the  word  Tsehi  is  often  taken  for 
jfiid^a,  as  being  the  glory  nf  all  lands— And,  if  we  take  the  word  in  this  sense, 
the  meaning  of  the  place  will  be.  That  the  substance  of  their  hymns  was, 
that  now  the  promised  land  should  be  restored  to  the  righteous  seed  of  Abra- 
ham. Which  confirms  the  interpretation  given  of  ver.  14,  that  the  contest 
relates  to  the  final  restoration  of  the  ^e-i's.'"     Mr-  Lowth  in  loc. 


117 

one  on  high,  and  upon  the  kings  of  the  earth  on  the  earth. 
22.  And  they  shall  be  gathered  tcJgcther  as  prisoners  are 
gathered  into  the  vault  of  a  dungeon,  and  they  shall  be 
shut  up  in  prison,  and  after  many  days  shall  they  be 
visited.  23.  Then  the  moon  shall  be  confounded,  and 
the  sun  ashamed,  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  reign  in 
mount  Zion,  and  in  Jerusalem,  and  before  his  ancients 
gloriously. 

XXV.  1.  O  Lord,  thou  art  my  God  ;  I  will  exalt  thee, 
I  will  praise  thy  name :  for  thou  hast  done  wonderful 
things  :  thy  counsels  of  old  are  faithfulness  and  truth. 
2.  For  thou  hast  made  of  a  cit}-,  an  heap ;  of  a  defenced 
eity,  a  ruin  ;  the  tower  of  strangers,  to  be  no  city  :  it  shall 
never  be  built.  3.  Therefore  shall  the  strong  people 
glorify  thee,  the  city  of  the  terrible  nations  shall  fear  thee. 
4.  For  thou  hast  been  a  strength  to  the  poor,  a  strength 
to  the  needy  in  his  distress,  a  refuge  from  the  storm,  a 
shadow  from  the  heat,  when  the  blast  of  the  terrible  ones 
was  as  a  storm  against  the  wall.  5.  As  heat  in  a  dry 
place,  thou  shalt  bring  down  the  noise  of  strangers  ;  as 
heat  in  the  shadow  of  a  cloud,  the  branch  of  the  terrible 
ones  shall  he  humbled. 

6.  And  in  this  mountain  shall  the  Lord  of  hosts  make 
unto  all  people  a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  wines  on 
the  lees  ;  of  fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of  wine  on  the  lees 
well  refined.  7.  And  he  will  entirely  remove  in  this 
mountain  the  face  of  the  covering  that  is  cast  over  all  the 
peoples,  and  the  veil  that  is  spread  over  all  the  nations. 
8.  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  victory  ;  and  the  Lord 
God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all  faces ;  and  the 
reproach  of  his  people  shall  he  take  away  from  off  all  the 
earth  :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.  9.  And  it  shall  be 
said  in  that  day,  Lo,  this  is  our  God ;  we  have  waited 
for  him,  and  he  will  save  us :  this  is  the  Lord ;  we  have 
waited  for  him,  we  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  his  salva- 
tion. 10.  For  in  this  mountain  shall  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
rest ;  and  Moab  shall  be  trodden  down  under  him,  even 
as  straw  is  trodden  down  for  the  dunghill.  11,  And 
he  shall  spread  forth  his  hands  in  the  midst  of  them,  as 
he  that  swimmeth  spreadeth  forth  his  hands  to  swim  :  and 
he  shall  bring  down  their  pride  together  Math  the  spoils  of 


118 

their  hands.  12.  And  the  fortress  of  the  high  fort  of  thy 
walls  shall  he  bring  down,  lay  low,  and  bring  to  the 
ground,  even  to  the  dust. 

xxvi.  1.  In  that  day  this  song  shall  be  sung :   In  the 
land  of  Judah  we  have  a  strong  city  ;  salvation  shall  he 
appoint  for  walls  and  bulwarks.     2.  Open  ye  the  gates, 
that  the  righteous  nation  which  keepeth  the  truth  may 
enter  in.  3.  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  thee :   because  he  trusteth  in  thee. 
4.  Trust  ye  in  the  Lord  for  ever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah 
is  everlasting  strength.     5.  For  he  bringeth  down  them 
that  dwell  on  high  ;  the  lofty  city,  he  layeth  it  low  *  ;  he 
layeth  it  low,  even  to  the  ground  ;  he  bringeth  it  even  to 
the  dust.     6.  The  foot  shall  tread  it  down ;  even  the 
feet  of  the  needy  t>  and  tlie  steps  of  the  poor.     7.  The 
way  of  the  just  is  uprightness  :  thou,  most  upright,  dost 
weigh  the  path  of  the  just.     8.  Yea,  in  the  way  of  thy 
judgments,  O  Lord,  have  Me  waited  for  thee  :  the  desire 
of  our  soul  is  to  thy  name,  and  to  the  remembrance  of 
thee.  9.  With  my  soul  have  I  desired  thee  in  the  night ; 
yea,  with  my  spirit  within  me  will  I  seek  thee  early  :  for, 
when  thy  judgments  are  in  the  earth,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  world  will  leam  righteousness.     10.  Let  favour  be 
shewed  to  the  wicked,  yet  will  he  not  learn  righteousness  t 
in  the  land  of  uprightness  will  he  deal  unjustly,  and  will  not 
behold  the  majesty  of  tlie  Lord.   11.  Lord,  thy  hand  is  lift- 
ed up,  but  they  see  not :  yet  they  shall  see,  and  shall  be 
ashamed  for  their  envy  at  the  people  ;  yea  thine  enemies, 
fire  shall  devour  them.     12.  Lord,  thou  wilt  ordain  peace 
for  us  ;  for  thou  hast  also  wrought  all  our  works  for  us. 

'  *  The  infty  city,  he  /ayeth  it  lorj.']  "  As  the  Chnrch  is  styled  the  city  of  God, 
so  the  society  of  infidels  or  enemies  to  God's  truth  is  represented  by  tlie  like 
similitude  of  a  city,  and  typified  under  the  fissures  of  Sodovi,  Babylon,  and  that 
Jerusalem  wliich  killed,  the  prophets.  And  this  sense  I  think  best  agree>s 
with  the  scope  of  the  place,  and  with  the  parallel  texts,  chap.  xxv.  2,  12 ;  in 
neither  of  which  places  can  the  expression  be  understood  of  any  one  particu- 
lar city."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  The  feet  af  the  needy.']  "  If  we  understand  the  words  of  that  last  and 
j^reat  triumph  of  the  Church  over  Antichrist  and  all  its  enemies  (as  many  of 
the  expressions  in  this  and  the  former  chapter  look  that  way),  we  may  fitly 
explain  the  poor  and  needy  here  to  be  those  who  shall  escape  out  of  the  great 
tribulation  which  shall  precede  those  times,  mentioned  Dan.  xii.  1."  (Mr. 
Lowth  in  loc.)  Those  however,  who  are  mentioned  in  Dan.  xii.  1,  are  plainly 
the  restored  jfcjis  :  and  1  conceive  them  to  be  likewise  intended  in  the  present 
passage. 


119 

13.  O  Lord  our  God,  other  lords  beside  thee  have  had  do- 
minion over  us :  but  by  thee  only  will  we  make  mention  of 
thy  name.  14.  Dead,  they,  shall  not  live ;  utterly  dead,  they 
shall  not  rise  again ;  because  thou  hast  visited  and  destroy- 
ed them,  and  wilt  cause  every  memorial  of  them  to  perish. 
15.  Thou  hast  increased  the  nation,  O  Lord,  thou  hast 
increased  the  nation:  thou  art  glorified;  thou  hast  extend- 
ed far  all  the  borders  of  the  land.  16.  Lord,  in  trouble 
they  have  visited  thee,  they  have  poured  out  a  prayer  ; 
tliy  chastening  was  upon  them.  17.  As  a  woman  with 
child  draweth  near  to  the  time  of  her  delivery,  is  pained, 
crieth  out  in  her  pangs ;  so  have  we  been  in  thy  sight, 
O  Lord.  18.  We  have  been  with  child,  we  have  been 
in  pain,  we  have  as  it  were  brought  forth  wind :  deliver- 
ance we  have  not  wrought  in  the  earth,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  world  have  not  fallen. 

19.  Thy  dead  shall  live,  my  dead  bodies  shall  arise*. 
Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust :  for  thy  dew 
is  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  tlie  earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead. 
20.  Come,  my  people  ;  enter  into  thy  chambers,  and  shut 
thy  doors  about  theef  :  hide  thyself  as  it  were  for  a  lit- 
tle moment,  until  the  indignation  be  overpast.  21.  For, 
behold,  the  Lord  cometh  out  of  his  place  to  visit  the  ini- 

•  Thy  dead  shall  live,  Tiiy  dead  bodies  shall  arise."]  In  the  language  of  sym- 
bols, death,  when  a  riation  is  spoken  of,  means  political  extinction  ;  and  rev/- 
viscence,  a  restoration  to  political  life.  "  Mori  ea  notione  dicitur,  qui  in  quo- 
cup.que  statu  constitutus,  sive  politic©,  sive  ecclesiastico,  seu  quovis  alio,  de- 
ainit  esse  quod  fuit;  unde  et  occidit  qui  tali  morte  quemquam  afficit."  (Mede's 
Comment.  Apoc.  in  Myst.  duor.  Test.  p.  484.).  The  same  imagery  is  used  by 
Ezekiel ;  only,  to  heighten  the  painting,  and  to  shew  the  great  length  of  time 
during  which  the  Israelites  would  lie  dead  as  a  nation,  he  represents  them 
as  being  not  merely  a  collection  of  dead  bodies,  but  a  heap  of  dry  bones 
(Ezek.  xxxvii.  1 — 14.).  St.  John  likewise  describes  the  suppression  of  pro- 
testantism in  Germany  in  the  time  of  Charles  V,  under  the  same  allegory 
(Rev.  xi.  7 — 11.).  "It  appears  from  hence,"  observes  Bp.  Lowth  very  justly, 
"  that  the  doctrine  oi'.the  resurrection  of  the  dead  was  at  that  time  a  popular 
''and  common  doctrine  :  for  an  image,  wliich  is  assumed  in  order  to  express 
or  represent  any  thing  in  the  way  of  allegory  or  metaphor,  must  be  an  image 
commonly  known  and  understood  ;  otherwise  it  would  not  answer  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  assumed."  Bp.  Lowtli's  Isaiah  in  loo.  See  also  Mi'- 
Lowtli  in  loc. 

■j-  Shut  thy  doors  about  thee.']  "  The  woi'd.s  ai'e  an  allusion  to  that  command 
given  to  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  not  to  go  out  of  the  door  of  their  houses  till 
morning-,  when  tlie  destroying  angel  was  to  pass  through  the  land  of  Egypt. 
So  here  God  promises  to  be  a  hiding-place  to  his  people  in  the  midst  of  those . 
terrible  judgments  which  should  destroy  his  adversaries.  This  probably  may 
be  meant  of  those  days  of  extraordinary  trouble  at  the  end  of  the  worlds  spo- 
ken of  in  Dan,  xii,  1.  and  Matt.  xxiv.  21,"    Mr.  l^qwtH  in  loc, 


120 

quity  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  iijxjn  them :  the 
earth  also  shall  disclose  her  blood,  and  shall  no  more  co- 
ver her  slain. 

xxvij.  1  *.  In  that  day,  the  Lord,  with  his  well-tem- 
pered and  great  and  strong  sword,  shall  punish  Leviathan 
the  sequent  that  darteth  rapidly  alorg,  even  Leviathan  the 
winding  serpent ;  he  shall  even  slay  the  monster  that  is 
in  the  sea. 

2.  Li  that  day,  to  the  beloved  vineyard  sing  ye  a  res- 
ponsive song  t' 

3.  Jehovah.  It  is  I,  the  Lord,  that  preserve  her  :  I 
will  water  her  every  moment ;  I  will  take  care  of  her  by 
night ;  and  by  day  I  will  keep  guard  over  her. 

4.  Vineyard.  I  have  no  wall  for  my  defence :  O 
that  I  had  a  fence  of  the  thorn  and  brier  1 

J.  Against  them  should  I  march  in  battle,  I  should 
bum  them  up  together.  5.  Ah  !  let  her  rather  take  hold 
of  my  protection. 

V.  Let  him  make  peace  with  me  !  peace  let  him  make 
^vith  me ! 

6.  J.  They  that  come  from  the  root  of  Jacob  shall 
flourish,  Israel  shall  bud  forth  ;  and  they  shall  fill  the  face 
of  the  earth  with  fruit. 

7.  Hath  he  smitten  him,  as  he  smiteth  those  that  smote 
him  ?  Hath  he  slain  him,  as  he  slaveth  those  that  slew 
him  ?  8.  In  just  measure,  when  thou  inflictest  the  stroke, 
w41t  thou  debate  with  her  :  he  will  deeply  deliberate,  even 
in  the  inidst  o/'his  violent  blast,  in  the  day  of  the  east- 
wind.  9.  Wherefore  by  this  shall  the  iniquity  of  Jacob 
be  purged ;  and  this  shall  take  away  all  the  fruit  of  his 
sin ;  when  he  maketh  all  the  stones  of  the  altar  as  stones 
of  rubbish  beaten  to  pieces,  when  the  groves  and  images 
rise  up  no  more. 

*  "  Tliis  chapter  treats  of  the  same  subject  with  the  two  former,  and  des- 
cribes that  happy  state  of  the  Church,  when  Satan  and  his  agents  shall  be 
subdued,  the  Church  shall  be  enlarged  and  purged  from  idolatry,  and  the 
yews  shall  be  restored  ;  all  which  are  circumstances  attending  those  glori- 
ous days,  which  the  prophets  often  foretell  shall  come  to  pass  at  or  near  the 
end  of  the  world."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  A  responsive  song.^  "  That  ro?  to  answer,"  says  Bp.  Lowth,  "  signifies 
occasionally  to  sing  responsively,  and  that  this  mode  of  singing  was  frequent- 
ly practised  among  the  ancient  Jews,  see  De  Sacra  Poesi  Heb.  Prael.  sis.  a' 
the  beginning," 


121 

10.  At  the  time  when  the  defenced  city  shall  be  deso- 
late, the  habitation  forsaken  and  left  like  a  wilderness ; 
when  the  calf  feedeth  there,  and  lieth  down  there,  and 
consumeth  the  branches  thereof ;  11.  JFhen  women  break 
off  the  branches  thereof  as  soon  as  they  are  withered, 
coming  and  setting  them  on  fire  (for  it  is  a  people  of  no 
understanding ;  therefore  their  Maker  doth  not  love 
them,  neither  doth  he  who  formed  them  shew  himself 
gracious  unto  them) :  12.  In  that  day  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  the  Lord  will  beat  as  -with  a  threshing  instru- 
ment *  from  the  stream  of  the  river  unto  the  river  of 
Egypt ;  and  ye  shall  be  gathered  one  by  one,  O  ye  chil- 
dren of  Israel :  13.  Even  in  that  day  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  it  shall  be  blown  with  the  great  trumpet  f,  and 
they  that  were  lost  in  the  land  of  Assyria,  and  they  that 
were  thrust  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  shall  come,  and  shall 
worship  the  Lord,  in  the  holy  mount,  in  Jerusalem. 

COMMENTARY, 

These  chapters,  like  those  which  were  last  considered, 
form  one  continued  prophecy,  treating  of  the  very  same 
subjects,  and  occasionally  in  almost  the  very  same  words. 

Isaiah  begins  with  predicting,  in  terms  studiously  mi- 
nute, the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  and  the  desolation  of  their 
country.  He  asserts,  that  all  these  judgments  should 
come  upon  them,  because  they  have  transgressed  the  laws 
of  God,  changed  the  ordinance,  and  broken  the  everlast- 
ing covenant,  even  the  covenant  of  the  Messiah.  Yet,  as 
he  had  already  foretold  |,  so  he  now  repeats  it,  that,  not- 
withstanding the  general  dispersion,  a-  few  stragglers 
should  remain  in  the  land,  like  the  gleanings  of  a  vine  or 
an  olive-tree. 

In  the  midst  however  of  this  desolation,  they  sliould, 
in  God's  appointed  season,  break  forth  into  songs  of  praise, 

*  The  Lord  will  beat  us  as  'uiith  a  threshing  instrument.']  "This  relates  to  the 
restoration  of  the  ^evis  in  the  latter  times."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  It  shall  be  blown  with  the  great  trumpet  ]  "  A  general  alarm  or  summons 
shall  be  given.  Compare  Matt.  xxiv.  31,  which  place  some  understand  of  this 
very  restoration  of  the  ^ews  the  prophet  here  speaks  of."  (Mr.  Lowth  in  loc). 
Compare  also  Isaiah  xviii.  3.  The  sounding  of  the  trumpet  most  probably  de- 
notes, as  Bp.  Horsley  thinks,  the  general  preaclUng  of  the  Gosp^cl. 

t  Isaiah  xvii.  6. 

16 


122 

and  shout  from  the  sea ;  they  should  glorify  the  Lord,  as 
in  old  times,  by  Urim  and  Thummim*,  and  should  mag- 
nify his  name  in  the  isles  of  the  sea  ;  insomuch  that  songs 
should  be  heard  from  the  uttermost  paits  of  the  earth, 
even  glory  to  that  righteous  one  whom  they  had  so  long 
rejected. 

The  prophet  here  seems  to  allude  to  the  restoration  of 
the  converted  Jexvshj  that  great  maritime  iiation  of  faith- 
ful worshippers^  which  he  had  already  so  amply  describ- 
ed. It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  what  is  translated  in  our 
common  English  version  they  shall  shout  from  the  sea, 
may  with  equal  propriety  be  rendered  they  shall  shout 
from  the  west  f.  Now  the  isles  of  the  sea  or  the  xvest,  as 
I  have  already  observed,  commonly  mean,  in  the  language 
of  Scripture,  the  western  regions  of  Europe^  because  to 
the  mariners  who  sailed  into  those  countries  from  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  they  appeared  to  be  literally  islands.  Hence 
it  is  most  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  the  maritime  power 
beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush,  called  to  by  the  prophet  in 
the  18th  chapter y  must  be  sojne  one  of  the  Jdngdoms  of 
Europe ;  and,  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  predictions 
relative  to  the  destruction  of  the  infidel  king^  the  heasty 
and  the  false  prophet^  some  one  of  those  kingdoms  which 
have  separated  themselves  from  the  7nystic  harlot  and  have 
embraced  evangelical  protestantism. 

Yet,  in  the  midst  of  his  restoration  by  this  great  peo- 
ple, Judah  is  constrained  to  lament  his  leanness,  and  to 
complain  that  he  has  experienced  treachery  from  the  trea- 
cherous dealers.     I  know  not  why  Judah  should  lament 

*  I  have  not  ventured  to  depart  from  the  Hebrew  i-eading,  though  Bp. 
lx)\vth's  conjectural  emendation  certainly  renders  this  passage  much  more 
clear  than  it  is  at  present.  Instead  of  d>is3  by  Urim,  he  supposes  we  ought 
to  read  a"N3  in  the  isles.  In  this  he  is  supported  by  two  M.S.S.  of  the 
XXX  ;  but,  it  does  not  appear,  by  any  of  the  original  Hebrew. 

•j-  Rp.  Lowth  translates  the  passage,  The  luaters  shall  resound  tvith  the  ex. 
altation  of  the  Lord  ;  instead  of.  They  shall  exult  in  the  majesty  of  the  Lord, 
they  shall  shoutfrom  the  sea,  or,  from  the  luest.  The  words  of  the  prophet,  so 
far  as  the  letters  are  concerned,  will  undoubtedly  bear  this  version  ;  though 
not,  if  the  points  be  taken  into  the  account :  for  o»Dj  according  to  its  punc- 
tuation, will  either  signify  from,  the  sea,  or  the  waters.  I  cannot  see  any  rea- 
son for  altering  the  present  version  ;  nevertheless,  even  if  it  be  altered,  the 
general  sense  of  the  passage  will  remain  much  the  same.  In  that  case  tkc' 
•waters  will  symbolically  mean  peoples ;  and  those  peoples  are  heard  to  praise 
the  Lord  in  the  isles  of  the  sea,  or  the  maritime  regions  of  Europe :  hence, 
Avith  reference  to  Judea,  the  soun4  will  of  course  come  from  tbe  Westi 


123 

his  leanness,  unkss  it  be  on  account  of  his  conversion 
not  being  universal  *  ;  nor  whom  he  can  intend  by  the 
treacherous  dealers,  unless  they  be  some  nation  remark- 
able in  the  last  days^  and  even  proverbial,  for  their  per- 
fidy and  treachery.  This  passage  therefore,  which  is  sp 
evidently  connected  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  seems 
to  me  to  confirm  the  opinion  of  Bp>  Horsley,  that  some 
of  them  in  an  unconverted  state  will  join  the  army  of 
Antichrist,  and  seek  to  regain  their  own  country  by  his 
instrumentality.  Acting  however  mereljT^  from  political 
motives,  he  will  soon  give  them  reason  to  bewail  his 
wonted  perfidy,  and  their  own  too  easy  faith  in  his  pro- 
mises f. 

Meanwhile,  as  Daniel  predicts  that  the  restoration  of 
the  Jews  shall  take  place  in  a  time  of  unexampled  trouble, 
so  Isaiah  here  predicts,  that  it  shall  be  at  an  era  marked 
by  astonishing  revolutions  and  tremendous  commotions. 
After  describing  a  state  of  things,  in  which  no  man  can 
promise  himself  cither  personal  liberty  or  security,  he 
proceeds,  in  the  figurative  language  of  prophecy,  language 
in  the  present  instance  borrowed  from  the  catastrophe  of 
the  deluge  J,  to  foretell  an  unspeakable  degree  of  misery 
and  confusion,  which  should  fall  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth  on  account  of  their  transgressions  ).  And  this 
leads  him  to  predict,  in  a  manner  perfectly  analogous  to 

*  It  seems  most  natural  to  nnrlerstand  the  leanness,  of  which  Judah  here 
complains,  as  meaning  spiritual  leanness ;  agreeably  to  that  in  the  Psalms, 
"  He  gave  them  their  request,  but  sent  leanness  into  their  soul."  Psalm  cvi.  15. 

f  'Y\i&  fides  Gallica  has  immemorially  been  little  less  proverbial  than  the 
fides  Punica.  "  Francis  familiare  est  ridendo  fidem  frangere"  (Vopisc.  Pro- 
cop.  C.  xiii.  P.  237.  Ed.  Bipont.).  "  Gens  Francorum  infidelis  est.  Si  per- 
jeret  Francus  quid  novi  faciet,  qui  perjurium  ipsum  sermonis  genufs  putat 
esse  non  criminis"  (Salvian.  de  Gub.  Dei  L..  iv.  P.  82.  Mag-.  Bib.  Pat.  5.). 
"  Franci  mendaces,  sed  hospitales"  (Ibid.  L.  T.  P.  116).  Such  was  the 
character  of  the  ancient  Franks,  upon  which  Mr.  Turner  observes,  "  This 
union  of  laughter  and  crime,  of  deceit  and  politeness,  has  not  been  entirely 
unknown  to  France  in  many  periods  since  the  fifth  century"  (Hist,  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  Vol.  i.  P.  56).  In  the  more  stern  and  energetic  language  of 
the  apostle,  it  is  predicted,  that  in  the  last  days,  the  peculiar  days  of  Antichrist, 
the  days  of  which  Isaiah  is  now  speaking,  there  should  be  truce-breakers, 
traitors,  heady,  high-minded.     2  Tim.  iii.  3,  4. 

+  At  the  period  of  the  deluge,  the  fountains  of  the  great  abyss  were  bro- 
ken up,  the  fissures  on  high  or  in  the  shell  of  the  earth  were  opened  to  give 
a  free  passage  to  the  waters,  and  the  very  foundations  of  the  globe  trembled. 
See  Catcotton  the  deluge.    See  likewise  Mr.  Lowth  in  loo. 

§  Bp.  Lo>vth  applies  this  symbolical  prediction  to  the  destruction  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical and  civil  polity  of  the  ^e<K.j.    But  this  had  been  already  foretold  by 


124. 

his'  former  prophecy,  the  final  overthrow  of  Antichrist 
and  his  rebellions  host.  After  many  days  (an  usual  scrip- 
tural phrase  to  denote  the  time  of  the  end,  or  the  co?iclu- 
sion  of  the  great  period  of  1260  years  ^)  the  tjTant  and  his 
associates  shall  be  gathered  together  into  one  place,  here 
figuratively  termed  their  prison^  as  criminals  are  gathered 
together  into  the  vault  of  a  dungeon.  This  place  we 
learn  from  other  prophecies  to  be  in  the  land  of  Palestine, 
and  from  St.  John  to  be  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  Megiddo  *.  By  the  total  overthrow  of  the  enemies 
of  God,  the  political  sun  and  moon  will  be  confounded ; 
the  last  of  the  four  great  monarchies  will  be  dissolved ; 
the  kingdom  of  the  symbolical  mountain  will  commence  ; 
and  the  Lord  of  hosts  will  reign  in  mount  Zion  and  in 
Jerusalem. 

Enraptured  with  the  consolatory  prospect,  Isaiah  now 
breaks  forth  into  a  song  of  triumph.  He  praises  God 
for  dashing  in  pieces  the  strong-holds  of  Antichrist,  and 
for  defending  the  poor  and  the  needy  from  his  violence. 
He  adds,  that,  in  consequence  of  these  judgments,  even 
the  terrible  ones  themselves  should  fear  the  Lord  ;  thus 
hinting  at  that  conversion  of  the  relics  of  the  Antichris- 
tian  host,  which  in  other  paits  of  holy  writ  is  more  large- 
ly and  definitely  predicted.  He  declares,  that,  in  this 
mountain,  however  unexpected  such  an  event  might  be, 
even  in  mount  Zion  itself  where  the  wilful  tyrant  had 
lately  pitched  the  tabernacles  of  his  hosts  f  ;  in  this 
mountain  the  Lord  shall  make  unto  all  people  a  spiritual 
feast  of  fat  things  1:,  and  destroy  the  veil  of  ignorance  \ 

Isaiah  in  the  first  thirteen  "verses  oft/ic  24<A  chapter ;  and  he  is  now  passing"  on 
to  their  restoration  and  conversion.  Hence  I  think  it  more  natural  to  refer  it  to 
the  great  convulsions  whicli  will  usher  in  the  final  overthrow  of  Antichrist, 
to  that  period  of  \inexam))led  distress  in  the  midst  of  which  the  ycivs  will  be 
restored.  In  fine,  the  political  troubles  here  mentioned  will  terminate,  ac- 
coi-ding  to  Isaiah,  in  the  reigning  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  on  mount  Zion  and  in 
Jerusalem  ;  whereas  the  overthroiu  of  the  yewish  polity  had  no  such  termina- 
tion :  for  Jerusalem,  instead  of  then  becoming  the  city  of  God,  began  at  that 
very  period  to  be  trodden  down  by  the  Gentiles. 

*  "I  cannot  find  any  explication  of  this  verse,  (Isaiah  xxiv  22.)  so  agree- 
able to  tlie  natural  sense  of  the  words,  as  that  of  a  late  learned  writer  upon 
the  Revelation,  chap.  xix.  6,  who  explains  it  of  the  kings  of  the  earth,  who 
made  war  with  Christ  and  his  saints  at  Armageddon.  Rev.  xvi.  16.  xix.  19." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  Dan.  xi.  45.  i  Compare  Isaiah  ii.  2 — 5. 

§  "The  phrase — may  denote  the  taking  away  all  ignorance  and  prejudice 
from  men's  minds,  which  St.  Paul  compares  to  a  veil  (2  Cor.  iii.  13j  14.) ;  and 


125 

which  has  long  been  cast  over  so  large  a  portion  of  man- 
kind, both  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Then  will  he  swallow  up 
death  in  victory ;  then  will  tears  be  wiped  away  from 
every  eye  ;  then  will  his  people  Israel  be  the  glory,  in- 
stead of  the  reproach,  of  the  whole  earth  *. 

In  that  day,  the  restoj'ed  Jews  may  be  supposed  to  lift 
up  their  voices  in  joyful  acclamations  to  the  Lord ;  to 
praise  him  for  overthrowing  their  enemies,  and  causing 
the  nations  to  be  ashamed  of  their  former  envy  ;  to  ac- 
knowledge his  goodness  for  delivering  them  from  those 
harsh  lords  who  have  had  dominion  over  them  ;  to  con- 
fess, that  he  wonderfully  preserved  and  increased  them, 
as  he  did  of  old  in  Egypt,  though  he  had  removed  them 
to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth ;  and  to  own  that  their 
pangs  and  troubles,  both  during  the  period  of  their  dis- 
persion and  at  the  boisterous  era  of  their  restoration,  re- 
sembled those  of  a  woman  drawing  near  to  the  time  of 
her  delivery.  They  had  long  brought  forth,  as  it  were, 
only  wind  ;  but  now  a  might}^  people  is  born  at  once,  is 
suddenly  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  takes  its 
rank  among  the  chief  of  the  nations  f. 

The  prophet  now  speaks  again  in  his  own  person,  and 
declares,  that,  although  the  Jews  should  long  experience 
the  horrors  of  a  political  death,  they  should  at  length' 
revive,  and  once  more  become  an  independent  and  regu- 
larly constituted  government.  The  earth  should  cast  out 
her  dead ;  they  should  be  gathered  together  from  the 
four  quarters  of  the  habitable  globe  ;  and  they,  that  long 
dwelt  in  the  dust  of  the  allegorical  grave,  should  a'wake 
and  sing.  In  the  midst  however  of  God's  judgments  upon 
their  enemies,  he  charges  them  to  be  still.  He  bids  them 
wait,  till  the  indignation  be  past ;  till  the  Lord  hath  come 
out  of  his  place  to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  for 
their  iniquity ;  till  he  hath  broken  the  power  of  Antichj'isfy 
who,like  Leviathan  in  the  natural  sea,  takes  his  pastime 
in  the  troubled  sea  of  many  nations,  and  rules  uncontrol- 
led over  the  mighty  waters  of  the  Latin  empire  %. 

the  word  covering  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  the  prophecy,  Isaiah  xxix.  10." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

*  Rev.  xxi.  4.  f  Isaiah  Ixvi.  7,  8,  9. 

■\  In  the  first  edition  of  my  Dissertation  on  the  \2&0  years,  Vol.  I.  p.  83,  I 
was  led  into  an  error  relative  to  the  passage  here  commeoted  upon,  by  fol 


126 

When  God  hath  amply  taken  vengeance  of  his  enemies, 
then  will  the  JewSy  as  formerly,  once  more  become  the 
vineyard  of  his  church.  His  protecting  care  had  long  been 
withdrawn  from  it ;  its  hedge  had  been  broken  down  ;  it 
had  been  laid  waste  ;  it  had  been  neither  pruned  nor  dig- 
ged ;  it  had  produced  nought  but  briars  and  brambles ; 
the  clouds  had  been  withheld  from  refreshing  it  with 

lowing  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton.     I  supposed  with  them,  that  the  dragon, 
mentioned  in  Isaiah  xxvii.  1.  and  in  Ezek.  xxix.  3,  is  such  a  dragon  as  that 
mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse,  namely  a  large  serpent  ;  and  I  thence  conclud- 
ed, that,  like  the  apocalyptic  dragon,  it  symbolizes  the  devil  acting  through   the 
instrumentality  of  certain  heathen  poiuers.     I  am  now  convinced,  that  1  was 
mistaken.   The  dragon  or  aquatic  tnonster,  described  by  Ezekief,  seems  plainly, 
as  Abp.  Newcome  properly  observes,  to  be  the  crocodile,  the  constant  symbol 
of  Egypt ;  while  the  dragon  or  aquatic  monster,  mentioned  by  Isaiah,  appeal's 
to  be  some  large  sea-fish  or  possibly  a  viater-snake.  In  the  passage  of  Ezekiel, 
Pharaoh  is  undoubtedly  intended  :  but  the  passage  of  Isaiah,  connected  as  it 
manifestly  is  with  the  restoration  of  the  ^eivs  and  the  destruction  of  Antichrist, 
cannot,  with  any  degree  of  propriety,  be  applied  to  the  ancient  sovereigns  of 
Egypt.     In  short,  I  conceive  that  the  huge  sea-monster  Leviathan  is  used  in 
the  present  prophecy  to  symbolize,  not  Satan,  but  Antichrist  in  the  midst  of 
his  overgrown  power,  and  while  lording  it  like  the  apocalyptic  harlot  over  many 
waters.     Bp.  Lowth  translates  the  passage,  Leviathan  the  rigid  serpent,  and 
Leviathan  the  vjinding  serpent,  and  shall  slay  the  monster  that  is  in  the  sea.  From 
these  words  he  concludes,  that  three  difl'erent  animals  are  here  mentioned  : 
"  tlie  crocodile,  rigid,  by  the  stiffness  of  the  back-bone,  so  that  he  cannot 
readily  turn  himself  when  he  pursues  his  prey  ;  the  serpent  or  dragon,  flexi- 
ble and  winding;  the  sea-monster,  or  the  whale."     Upon  which  his  Lord- 
ship remarks,  "  These  are  used  allegorically,  no  doubt,  for  great  potentates, 
enemies  and  persecutors  of  the  people  of  God."     I  freely  confess,  that  1  prefer 
my  own  translation  of  the  passage,  and  that  I  think  it  much  more  natural  to 
Consider  the  prophet  as  speaking  of  only  o;!e  sea-monster.  To  annex  the  sense 
of  rigid  or  stiff  to  the   adjective  nt^S  seems  to  me  very  far-fetched.    The 
primitive  verb  n-0  signifies  to  fee  or  shoot  along  .•  hence  nna  denotes  at  once 
n  fugitive  and  a  bar ,-  the  latter,  from  the  idea  of  a  bar  shooting  through  the 
rings,  within  which  it  is  confined,  in  the  act  of  barring  a  door.     What  then 
is  the  meaning  of  the   adjective  rn3  ?  The  Lexicographers  tell  us /o«^'  and 
•stiff,  because  a  bolt  is  both  long  and  stiff".     But  this  is  surely  departing  very- 
far  from  the  original  sense  of  t)>e  root,  and  annexing  to  one  of  its  derivatives 
a  mere  incidental  idea  which  belongs  to  anothei-  of  its  derivatives.     A  bolt 
is  called  rr'na,  not  because  it  is  long  and  stiflT,  but  because  it  shoots  through  its 
rings.  The  second  idea  not  the  first,  is  that  which  connects  it  witli  its  primitive. 
Hence  it  appears  to  me  utterly  incomprehensible  upon  any  consistent  prin- 
ciple of  derivation,  how  the   adjective  ma,  which  s]M'ings  from  the  radical 
verb  nna  to  flee  or  shoot  along,  can  signify  long  and  stiff.     At  least,  if  we  an- 
nex such  a  meaning  to  it,  there  is   certainly  no  common  idea  that  connects 
the  root  with  its  derivative.    On  these  grounds  I  have  translated  the  passage, 
*' Leviathan,  the  serpent  that  rapidly  darteth  along;"  namely,  as  a  fish  darts 
along  through  the  water  :  and  I  am  supported  in  my  translation  both  by  the 
Lxx,  who  render  the  words  (J^axav?*  o^tv  cpevyovlx,  and  by  the  Arabic  ver- 
sion, which  reads  draconem  serpentetn  fugientem.     It  may  be  observed,  that 
Mr.  Parkhurst,  in  the  sense  which  he  ascribes  to  the  adjective  ma,  entirely 
departs  from  the  excellent  rule,  which  he  himself  had  laid  down  in  the  Pre- 
face to  his  Hebrew  Lexicon  :  "  Wherever  the  radical  letters  are  the  same, 
the  leading  idea  or  notion  runs  through  all  the  deflexions  of  the  word,  how- 


127 

rain*  :  but  now  it  is  become  a  vineyard  of  desire  ;  the 
Lord  himself  keepeth  it ;  he  watereth  it  every  moment ; 
he  keepeth  it  night  and  day,  lest  any  hurt  it.  He  caus- 
eth  Jacob  to  take  root,  and  Israel  to  fill  the  face  of  the 
whole  world  with  fruit.  Severely  as  he  hath  smitten  him 
for  his  manifold  iniquities ;  yet  he  hath  moderated  his 
anger,  he  hath  not  smitten  him  with  the  stroke  which  he 
hath  finally  laid  upon  his  persecutors,  the  stroke  of  utter 
excision.  On  the  contrary,  he  hath  debated  with  his  an- 
cient church  in  exact  measure  ;  he  hath  meditated,  as  it 
were  by  rule,  upon  her  chastisements,  even  when  riding 
in  the  whirlwind  and  directing  the  storm.  He  declareth, 
that  her  sin  shall  be  taken  away,  when  she  forsaketh  her 
abominations. 

In  fine,  at  the  very  time  when  the  affairs  of  Israel  ap- 
pear most  desperate ;  when  his  cities  are  desolate,  and 
his  habitations  forsaken ;  when  his  land  is  a  wilderness  ; 
and  when  even  women  stretch  forth  their  hands,  and 
pluck  off  his  withered  branches  :  then  will  the  Lord  be- 
gin a  work,  which  shall  rouse  the  slumbering  attention 
of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  He  will  thresh,  as  it 
were  with  a  threshing  instrument,  from  the  river  Eu- 
phrates to  the  river  ofEgypt\.  Both  those  mystic  streams 
shall  be  dried  up,  in  order  that  a  way  may  be  prepared 
for  the  kings  from  the  rising  of  the  sun.  He  will  gather 
together  the  children  of  Israel,  one  by  one,  from  the  land 
of  their  dispersion.  He  will  cause  the  great  trumpet  of 
the  Gospel  to  be  heard  to  the  very  extremities  of  the 

ever  numerous  or  diversified."  Hew  can  this  be  the  case,  if  the  adjective 
rn3>  to  which  he  ascribes  the  signification  of  straight  and  rigid,  be  derived 
from  the  verb  rna  to  fiee.  What  common  leading  idea  runs  through  the  pri- 
mitive, which  means  tojlee ;  and  its  deflexion,  if  it  signify  straight  a.nd.  rigid? 
Mr.  Lowth  observes,  like  myself,  that  "  the  Hebrew  word  Beriah,  which  our 
English  translates  piercing,  signifies  likewise  running  atuay"  Mr.  Lowth 
in  loc. 

*  See  Isaiah  v.  6. 

f  The  river  is  here  spoken  by  way  of  eminence,  and  is  manifestly  placed  in 
contradiction  to  the  river  of  Egypt :  hence  I  apprehend,  according  to  the  usu- 
al phraseology  of  Scripture,  that  the  Euphrates  is  intended.  This  idea  per-* 
fecUy  agrees  both  with  the  context  of  the  present  passage,  and  with  other 
pai-allel  prophecies.  Compare  Isaiah  xi.  15,  16.  xix.  5,  23,  24 — Zechar.  x. 
10,  11,  12.  From  the  same  parallel  prophecies  I  think  we  may  likewise  con- 
elude,  that  by  the  river  of  Egypt  we  are  here  to  understand  the  N^ile,  not  the 
small  river  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gaza  which  was  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  dominions  of  Israel.  See  Gen.  xv.  18.  Numb,  xxxiv.  5.  Josh.  xv.  4.  47- 
See  also  WeU's  Geog.  of  the  014  Test.  \o\,  1.  p.  158  j  and  Mr.  Lo^vth  iiiloc. 


128 

earth.  And  they,  that  are  now  lost  in  the  land  of  Assy- 
ria, the  remnant  of  the  ten  tribes  *  ;  and  they,  that  w^ere 
thrust  do^^'n  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  the  wreck  of  Judah 
after  the  desolatmi  of  their  country  by  the  Romans  f  ;  all 
these  shall  obey  the  call,  shall  assemble  together,  and 
shall  worship  the  Lord  in  the  holj    mount  of  Jerusalem. 


PROPHECY  VIII. 

The  dispersion  and  subsequent  restoration  of  the  Jews — The  over- 
throw of  the  mystic  Assyrian. 

Isaiah  xxx.   17.    One  thousand,  at  the  rebuke  of  one  ; 
at  the  rebuke  of  five,  ten  thousand  of  you "  shall  flee. 

18.  Yet  for  all  this  shall  the  Lord  wait  to  shew  favour 
unto  you ;  even  for  this  shall  he  expect  in  silence,  that 
he  may  have  mercy  upon  you  :  (for  the  Lord  is  a  God 
of  judgment ;    blessed  are  all  they  that  trust  in  him.) 

19.  For  the  people  shall  dwell  in  Zion :  in  Jerusalem 
thou  shalt  in  no  wise  weep :  he  will  be  exceeding  gra- 
cious unto  thee  at  the  voice  of  thy  cry  :  no  sooner  shall 
he  hear,  than  he  shall  answer  thee.  20.  Though  the  Lord 

*  Although  Ephraim  is  broken  that  he  shall  never  moi*e  be  a  distinct  peo- 
ple ;  yet  we  are  expressly  taug-ht  bv  the  voice  of  prophecy,  that  the  ten  tribes 
which  were  carried  away  into  the  land  of  Assyria  shall  be  restored  no  less 
than  the  tribe  of  yudah,  and  that  the  two  divided  kingdoms  of  Israel  will  for 
ever  coalesce  into  one  kiiigdo')n.  Isaiah  represents  them  liere,  precisely  what 
they  have  been  for  ag-es,  as  being  lost ;  and  nevertheless  declares,  that  in 
God's  own  appointed  season  they  shall  come.  It  is  well  known  how  many 
have  fruitlessly  wearied  themselves  to  find  them  (See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert. 
VIII.)  :  tliat  they  viill  however  be  found,  Scripture  asserts  in  the  most  posi- 
tive terms,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  arrive  at  those  prophecies  which  pecu- 
liarly treat  of  the  subject.  Since  the  second  advent  of  the  Messiah  is  the  time 
of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  and  since  the  finding  these  lost  ones  seems  to  be 
a  knot  which  God  alone  can  untie,  perhaps  there  may  be  more  truth  in  the 
Jewish  notion  than  has  commonly  been  imagined,  that,  when  "  the  Messiah 
shall  come,  it  will  be  part  of  his  office  to  sort  their  farnilies,  restore  their 
genealogies,  and  set  aside  strangers." 

I  "When  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  Titus,  of  the  captives  who  were  above 
seventeen  years  he  sent  many  bound  to  the  works  in  Egypt;  those  under  se- 
venteen were  sold;  but  so  little  care  was  taken  of  these  captives,  that  11,000 
of  them  perished  for  want.  And  we  learn  from  St.  Jerome,  that  after  their 
last  overthrow  by  Adrian,  many  thousands  of  them  were  sold;  and  tliose, 
who  could  not  be  sold  were  transported  into  Egypt,  and  perished  by  ship- 
wreck or  famine,  or  wer©  m5^gsac^ed  by  the  inhabitants."  Bp.  Newton's 
Dissert,  vii-. 


129 

hath  given  you  bread  of  distress,  and  water  of  affliction ; 
yet  the  timely  rain  shall  no  more  be  restrained,  but  thine 
eyes  shall  behold  the  timely  rain.  21.  And  thine  ears 
sliall  hear  the  word  prompting  thee  behind,  saying,  This 
is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it ;  turn  not  aside,  to  the  right,  or 
to  the  left.  22.  And  ye  shall  treat  as  defiled  the  covering 
of  your  idols  of  silver,  and  the  clothing  of  your  molten 
images  of  gold  :  thou  shalt  <:ast  them  away  like  a  polluted 
garment ;  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  Begone  from  me. 
23.  And  he  shall  give  rain  for  thy  seed,  with  which  thou 
shalt  sow  the  ground ;  and  bread  of  the  produce  of  the 
ground :  and  it  shall  be  abundant  and  plenteous.  Then 
shall  thy  cattle  feed  in  large  pasture ;  2i.  And  the  oxen 
and  the  young  asses,  that  till  the  gi'ound,  shall  eat  well- 
fermented  maslin,  winnowed  with  the  van  and  the  sieve, 

25.  And,  on  every  loft}'  mountain,  and  on  every  high 
hill,  shall  be  disparting  streams,  and  rills  of  water,  in 
the  day  of  the  great  slaughter,  when  the  mighty  fall*. 

26.  And  the  light  of  the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  shall  be  seven-fold,  in 
the  day  when  the  Lord  shall  bind  up  the  breach  of  his 
people,  and  shall  heal  the  woiuid  which  his  stroke  hath 
inflicted. 

27.  Lo,  the  name  of  the  Lord  cometh  from  afar ;  his 
^vrath  burnetii,  and  the  flame  rageth  violently :  his  lips 
ai'e  filled  with  indignation ;  and  his  tongue  is  as  a  consum- 
ing fire.  28.  His  spirit  is  like  a  torrent  overflowing ;  it 
shall  reach  to  the  middle  of  the  neck  :  he  cometh  to  toss 
the  nations  with  the  van  of  perdition ;  and  there  shall  be 
a  bridle  to  lead  them  astray,  in  the  jaws  of  the  peoples. 
29.  Ye  shall  utter  a  song,  as  in  the  night  when  the  feast 
is  solemnly  proclaimed  ;  with  joy  of  heart,  as  when  one 
marcheth  to  the  sound  of  the  pipe  ;  to  go  to  the  moun- 
tain of  the  Lord,  the  rock  of  Israel.  30.  And  the  Lord 
shall  cause  his  glorious  voice  to  be  heard,  and  the  light- 
ing down  of  his  arm  to  be  seen ;  with  wrath  indignant, 
and  a  flame  of  consuming  fire ;  with  a  violent  storm,  and 

*  When  the  mighty  fail.']  "  This  shall  be  remarkably  fulfilled  at  the  time 
when  there  shall  be  a  terrible  destruction  of  God's  enemies  (see  Rev.  xiv, 
20.  xix.  21.) ;  when  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  shall  fall,  denoted  here  by 
high  toilers  ;  or  by  towers  we  may  understand  tke/ortif  cations  of  the  city  whicfls 
is  the  mystical  Babylon."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

17 


130 

rushing  showers,  and  hailstones.  31.  By  the  voice  ot 
the  Lord  the  Assyrian  shall  be  beaten  down,  he,  that  was 
ready  to  smite  with  his  staff.  32.  And  it  shall  be,  that 
wherever  shall  pass  the  rod  of  correction,  which  the  Lord 
shall  lay  heavily  upon  him  ;  it  shall  be  accompanied  with 
tabrets  and  harps  ;  and  with  fierce  battles  shall  he  fight 
against  them.  33.  For  Tophet  is  ordained  of  old;  even 
the  same  for  the  king  is  prepared :  he  hath  made  it  deep ; 
he  hath  made  it  large  ;  a  fier}'^  pile,  and  abundance  of 
fuel :  and  the  breath  of  the  Lord,  like  a  stream  of  sul- 
phur^  shall  kindle  it. 

COMMENTARY. 

After  declaring  the  depressed  and  enfeebled  state,  to 
which  Israel  should  be  reduced,  Isaiah  predicts,  that  the 
Lord,  after  long  waiting  in  silence,  after  a  long  cessation 
of  the  visible  intei'positions  of  Providence*,  will  again 
shew  favour  unto  his  people.  He  will  listen  to  the  voice 
of  their  crj-,  and  will  cause  them  to  dwell  with  joy  in 
Zion  and  Jerusalem.  Though  he  hath  given  them  the 
bread  of  distress  and  the  wixXtr  of  affliction,  and  hath 
witliheld  from  them  the  gentle  rain  of  spiritual  influences 
whereby  his  Church  is  watered  and  rendered  fruitful ; 
yet  now  the  timely  rain  shall  no  more  be  restrained,  but 
the  voice  of  instruction  shall  make  them  walk  steadily  in 
the  paths  of  righteousness.  Then  shall  they  reject  all  their 
former  abominations,  after  which  their  fathers  in  old  times 
went  a  whoring ;  and  their  land,  which  had  been  cursed 
by  God  with  comparative  sterility,  shall  abundantly  give 
its  increase.  The  light  of  their  political  sun  and  moon 
shall  be  seven- fold  increased,  in  the  day  when  the  Lord 
healeth  the  wound  of  his  people  ;  and,  after  the  day  of 
the  great  slaughter,  after  the  mighty  are  fallen,  the  latter 
end  of  Israel  shall  be  more  glorious  than  his  beginning. 

Having  described  the  millennian  felicity  of  the  house 
of  Jacoby  the  prophet  next  pourtrays  in  glowing  colours 
the  overthrow  of  Antichrist  ■[,  whom  he  here,  as  else- 

•  Compare  this  with  the  similar  phraseolog}^  which  Isaiah  uses  in  Chap. 
Xviii.  4.  and  xlii.  14,  to  describe  the  same  cessation  of  supernatural  interfer- 
ences. 

f  Bp.  Lowth  seems  to  apply  this  prophecy  exclusively  to  the  destruction  of 
Sennacherib's  army.    It  may  primarily  relate  to  it ;  but  the  general  tenor  of 


131 

where,  mystically  terms  the  Assyrian,  or  the  king  of  the 
figurative  Babylon"^.  The  Name  of  the  Lord,  the  person- 
al Word  of  God  t,  cometh  from  afar,  with  great  indigna- 
tion, in  the  day  of  his  second  advent.  He  tosses  the 
confederacy  of  the  nations  with  the  van  of  destruction, 
and  puts  a  bridle  hito  the  jaws  of  the  peoples.  By  the 
Voice  of  the  Lord,  Antichrist^  even  in  the  midst  of 
his  strength,  is  beaten  down :  and,  wherever  the  Al- 
mighty lays  heavily  upon  him  the  rod  of  correction ; 
there  his  rescued  servants  applaud  the  righteous  stroke, 
and  exult  with  tabrets  and  with  harps.  The  fiery  des- 
truction, that  is  prepared  for  him,  is  like  the  flames  of 
Tophet.  The  pile  is  large :  his  wretched  confederates 
are  its  abundant  fuel :  and  it  is  kindled  by  the  breath  of 
the  Lord  himself,  as  by  a  stream  of  sulphurf . 


PROPHECY  IX. 

The  desolation  of  the  mystic  Edom — ^^The  miracles  of  Christ  at  his 
first  and  second  advent — The  restoration  of  the  Jews. 

Isaiah  xxxiv.  1.  Draw  near,  O  ye  nations,  and  hear- 
ken  ;  and  attend  unto  me,  O  ye  peoples  !  Let  the  earth 
hear,  and  the  fulness  thereof ;  the  world,   and  all  that 

the  wliole  prediction  almost  necessarily  leads  us  to  look  beyond  that  event  to 
the  days  of  Antichrist.  The  great  blessedness  of  Israel,  both  temporal  and 
spiritual,  which  is  described  as  succeeding  the  overthrow  oi  the  Assyrian,  by 
no  means  accords  with  the  comparatively  moderate  prosperity  of  Hezekiali 
and  with  the  unfortunate  reigns  of  his  successors.  Such  vivid  descriptions 
can  only  with  propriety  be  applied  to  the  final  restoration,  and  the  glories  of 
the  Millennium.  And,  if  this  description  in  pai'ticular  must  be  tluis  applied, 
then  the  Assyrian  must  be  a  mystical  character.  See  Mr.  Lowth  on  Isajalj. 
XXX.  19. 

*  Compare  Isaiah  xiv,  25.  and  Micah  v.  6. 

f  The  second  person  of  the  blessed  Trinity  is  Indifferently  styled  the  Word, 
the  Name,  and  the  Voice,  of  the  Lord  .•  and  in  this  manner,  those  appellations 
are  accordingly  understood  by  the  ancient  Targuraists.  (See  Jamieson's 
Vindication  of  the  doctrine  of  Scripture,  Vol.  i.  P.  53,  54.  See  indeed  the 
whole  chapter.)  The  Name  or  the  Voice  of  the  Lord,  who  here  executes 
vengeance  upon  his  incorrigible  enemies,  is  the  same  divine  person,  whose 
manifestation  for  the  same  purpose  is  described  in  the  Apocalypse  xix.  11 — 1§. 
He  is  Jesus  the  Messiah. 

1 1  doubt  whether  the  punishment  of  hell  be  here  meant :  the  excision  of  the 
incorrigible  faction  of  Antichrist  seems  alone  to  be  intended.  See  Kp.  Lowth  in 
loc.  who  supposes  the  passage  to  relate  only  to  the  destruction  of  the  Jfs/rian 
army,  and  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  P,  97.  Note  I 


132 

spring  from  it.  2.  For  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  is  kindled; 
against  all  the  nations,  and  his  anger  against  all  their  ar- 
mies ;  he  hath  devoted  them  with  a  cm-se  to  utter  destruc- 
tion ;  he  hath  given  them  up  to  slaughter.  3.  And  their 
slain  shall  be  cast  out  ^  and  from  their  carcases  their  stink 
shall  ascend  ;  and  the  mountains  shall  melt  down  with 
their  blood  *.  4.  And  all  the  host  of  heaven  shall  waste 
away  ;  and  the  heavens  shall  be  rolled  up  like  a  scroll ;  and 
all  their  host  shall  wither  ;  as  the  withered  leaf  falleth 
from  the  vine,  and  as  the  blighted  fruit  from  the  fig-ti-ee. 
5.  For  my  sword  shall  be  bathed  in  the  heavens  :  behold, 
on  Edom  it  shall  descend,  even  on  the  people  devoted  by 
me  with  a  curse  to  destruction.  6.  The  sword  of  th© 
Lord  is  glutted  with  blood  ;  it  is  pampered  with  fat,  witlt 
the  blood  of  lambs  and  of  goats,  with  the  fat  of  the  reins 
of  lambs  :  for  the  Lord  celebrateth  a  sacrifice  in  Bozrah, 
and  a  gi-eat  slauglTter  in  the  land  of  Edom..  7.  And  the 
wild- goats  shall  fall  down  with  them,  and  the  bullocks 
together  with  the  bulls :  and  their  own  land  shall  be  drunk- 
en  with  their  blood,  and  their  dust  shall  be  enriched  with 
fat.  8.  For  it  is  the  day  of  vengeance  to  the  Lord,  the  year 
of  recompenses  for  the  controversy  of  Zion.  9.  And  her 
torrents  shall  be  turned  into  pitch,  and  her  dust  into  sul- 
phur ;  and  her  whole  land  shall  become  burning  pitch. 
10.  By  day  or  by  night  it  shall  not  be  extinguished  ;  for 
ever  shall  her  smoke  ascend  :  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion she  shall  lie  desert  ;  to  everlasting  ages  no  one  shall 
pass  through  her  :  11.  But  the  pelican  and  the  porcupine 
shall  inherit  her  ;  and  the  owl  and  the  raven  shall  inhabit 
there  :  and  he  shall  stretch  over  her  the  line  of  devasta- 
tion, and  the  plummet  of  emptiness  over  her  scorched 
plains.  12.  No  more  shall  they  boast  the  renown  of  the 
kingdom  ;  and  all  her  princes  shall  utterly  fail.  13.  And 
in  her  palaces  shall  spring  up  tliorns  ;  the  nettle  and  the 
bramble  in  her  fortresses  :  and  she  shall  become  an  habi- 
tation for  dragons,  a  court  for  the  daughters  of  the  ostrich. 
14.  And  the  jackals  and  the  mountain-cats  shall  meet  one 
another ;  and  the  satyr  shall  call  to  his  fellow  :  there  also 

*  Ver.  2,  3.3  "  These  two  verses  may  very  fitly  be  applied  to  the  battle  oj 
the  great  day  of  the  Almighty,  mentioned  Rev,  xvi.  14, 16.  compared  withxyii'- 
14.  six.  19."    Mr.  Lowtli  in  loc. 


135 

the  screech-ov\'l  shall  pitch,  and  shall  find  for  herself  a  place 
of  rest.  15.  There  shall  the  night-raven  make  her  nest, 
and  lay  her  eggs  ;  and  she  shall  hatch  them,  and  gather 
her  young  under  her  shadow  :  there  also  shall  the  vul- 
tures be  gathered  together  ;  every  one  of  them  shall  join 
her  mate.  16.  Consult  ye  the  book  of  the  Lord,  and 
read  :  not  one  of  these  shall  be  missed  ;  not  a  female  shall 
lack  her  mate  :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  given  the 
command  ;  and  his  spirit  itself  hath  gathered  them. 
17.  And  he  hath  cast  the  lot  for  them  ;  and  his  hand  hath 
meted  out  their  portion  by  the  line  :  they  shall  possess  the 
land  for  a  perpetual  inheritance ;  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration shall  they  dwell  therein. 

XXXV.  1.  The  desert,  and  the  waste,  shall  be  glad  : 
and  the  wilderness  shall  rejoice  and  flourish.  2.  Like  the 
rose  shall  it  beautifully  flourish  ;  and  the  well-watered 
plain  of  Jordan  shall  rejoice :  the  glory  of  Lebanon  shall 
be  given  unto  it,  the  beauty  of  Carmel  and  of  Sharon ; 
these  shall  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  the  majesty  of 
our  God. 

3.  Strengthen  ye  the  feeble  hands,  and  confirm  ye  the 
tottering  knees.  4.  Say  ye  to  the  faint-hearted  :  Be  ye 
strong ;  fear  ye  not ;  behold  your  God !  Vengeance 
will  come,  the  retribution  of  God  :  he  himself  will  come, 
and  will  deliver  you.  5.  Then  shall  the  eyes  of  the  blind 
be  unclosed  ;  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  shall  be  opened  : 

6.  Then  shall  the  lame  bound  like  the  hart,  and  the 
tongue  of  the  dumb  shall  sing :  for  in  the  wilderness 
shall  burst   forth   waters,    and   torrents   in   the   desert. 

7.  And  the  glowii^  sand  shall  become  a  pool ;  and  the 
thirsty  soil,  bubbling  springs :  and  in  the  haunt  of  dra- 
gons shall  spring  forth  the  gi'ass,  with  the  reed,  and 
the  bulrush.  8.  And  a  highway  shall  be  there;  and. 
it  shall  be  called  The  way  of  holiness :  no  unclean 
person  shall  pass  through  it ;  but  He  himself  shall  be 
with  them,  walking  in  the  way,  and  the  foolish  shall  not 
err  therein.  9.  No  lion  shall  be  there  ;  nor  shall  the  ty- 
rant of  the  beasts  come  up  thither :  neither  shall  he  be 
found  there  ;  but  the  redeemed  shall  walk  in  it. 

10.  Yea,  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return ;  and 
they  shalj  come  to  Zion  with  triumph ;  and  perpetual 


134 

gladness  shall  crown  their  heads.    Joy  and  gladness  shall 
they  obtain  ;  and  soitow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away. 

COMMENTARY. 

"  These  two  chapters,"  says  Bp.  Lowth,  "  make  one 
distinct  prophecy  ;  an  entire,  regular,  and  beautiful  poem, 
consisting  of  two  parts  :   the  first  containing  a  denuncia- 
tion of  divine  vengeance  against  the  enemies  of  the  peo- 
ple or  Church  of  God ;  the  second  describing  the  flour- 
ishing state  of  the  Church  of  God,  consequent  upon  the 
execution  of  these  judgments.     The  event  foretold  is 
represented  as  of  the  highest  importance,  and  of  univer- 
sal concern  :  all  nations  are  called  upon  to  attend  to  the  de- 
claration of  it :  and  the  wrath  of  God  is  denounced  against 
all  the  nations ;  that  is,  all  those  that  had  provoked  to 
anger  the  defender  of  the  cause  of  Zion.    Among  these, 
Rdom  is  particularly  specified.      The  principal  provoca- 
tion of  Edom  was  their  insulting  tlie  Jews  in  their  dis- 
tress, and  joining  against  them  with  their  enemies  the 
Chaldeans  *.     Accordingly  the  Edomites  were,  together 
with  the  rest  of  the,  neighbouring  nations,  ravaged  and 
laid  waste  by  Nebuchadnezzar f.     The  general  devasta- 
tion,  spread  through  all  these  countries  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, may  be  the  event  which  the  prophet  has  primarily 
in  view  in  the  SA^th  chapter :  but  this  event,  as  far  as  we 
have  any  account  of  it  in  history,  seems  by  no  means  to 
come  up  to  the  terms  of  the  prophecy,  or  to  justify  so 
high- wrought  and  so  terrible  a  description.     And  it  is 
not  easy  to  discover  w^hat  connection  the  extremely  flou- 
rishing state  of  the  Church  or  people  of  God,  describ- 
ed in  the  next  chapter,  could  have  with  those  events ; 
and  how  the  former  could  be  the  consequence  of  the  lat- 
ter, as  it  is  there  represented  to  be.     By  a  figure,  very 
common  in  the  prophetical  writings,  any  city  or  people y 
remarkably  distini^uished  as  enemies  of  the  people  and 
kijigdom  of  God,  is  put  for  those  enemies  in  general.  This 
seems  here  to  be  the  case  with  Edom  and  Bozrah.     It 

*  See  Amos  i.  11. — Ezck.  xxv.  12. — xxxv.  15. — Psalm  cxxxvii.  7. 
\  See  Jerem.  xxv.   15 — 26. — Malachi   i.  3,  4. — and  see   Marsham.  Can 
nhron.  Seec.  xviii.  who  calls  this  tht  age  of  the  devastation  of  cities. 


135 

seems  therefore  reasonable  to  suppose,  with  many  learn- 
ed expositors,  that  this  prophecy  has  a  further  view  to 
events  still  future ;  to  some  great  revolutions  to  be  ef- 
fected in  later  times,  antecedent  to  the  more  j^erfect  state 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  and  serving  to  intro- 
duce it,  which  the  holy  Scriptures  warrant  us  to  expect*^ 

"  That  the  35th  chapter  has  a  view  beyond  any  thing, 
that  could  be  the  immediate  consequence  of  those  events, 
is  plain  from  every  part,  especially  from  the  middle  of 
it  t,  where  the  miraculous  works  wrought  by  our  bless- 
ed Saviour  are  so  clearly  specified,  that  we  cannot  avoid 
making  the  application :  and  our  Saviour  himself  has 
moreover  plainly  referred  to  this  very  passage  as  speak- 
ing of  him  and  his  works.  He  bids  the  disciples  of  John 
to  go  and  report  to  their  master  the  things  which  they 
heard  and  saw ;  that  the  blind  received  their  sight,  the 
lame  walked,  and  the  deaf  heard  J  :  and  leaves  it  to  him 
to  draw  the  conclusion  in  answer  to  his  inquiry,  whether 
he,  who  performed  the  very  works  which  the  prophets 
foretold  should  be  performed  by  the  Messiah,  was  not 
indeed  the  Messiah  himself.  And  where  are  these  works 
so  distinctly  marked  by  any  of  the  prophets,  as  in  this 
place  ?  and  how  could  they  be  marked  more  distinctly  ? 
To  these  the  strictly  literal  inteq^retation  of  the  prophet's 
words  directs  us.  According  to  the  allegorical  interpre- 
tation, they  may  have  a  further  view :  this  part  of  the 
prophecy  may  run  parallel  with  the  former,  and  relate  to 
the  future  advent  of  Christ;  to  the  conversion  of  the  Jews^ 
and  their  restitution  to  their  land ;  to  the  extension  and 
purification  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  events  predicted  in  the 
holy  Scriptures,  as  preparatory  to  it  ^." 

To  these  remarks  of  Bp.  Lowth  I  have  but  little  to 
add.  They  appear  to  me  to  be  perfectly  just,  with  a 
single  exception :  I  much  doubt  whether  the  Edo?n,  here 

•  "The  enemies  of  God's  Church  are  often  represented  by  the  name  of 
some  country  which  was  remarkable  fdr  its  hatred  and  ill  usage  o^the  yews, 
such  as  Egypt,  Babylon,  Edoin,  and  Moab  ;  and  thus  Edom  or  Iduinea  may  be 
taken  here— The  words  here  seem  to  describe  a  more  general  judgment,  of 
which  the  destruction  of  Edom  was  an  imperfect  representation."  Mr. 
Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xxxiv.  5. 

t  Ver.  5,  6.  i  Matt,  xi.  4,  5. 

§  Bp.  Lowth's  Isaiah  in  loo.. 


136 

spoken  of,  can  with  any  degree  of  propriety  be  applied 
to  the  literal  Edom  in  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
Independent  of  the  magnific€nce  of  the  images  being 
but  little  applicable  to  the  sufferings  of  Edom,  as  the 
Bishop  himself  remarks  ;  the  restoratio?i  of  Judah  fix)m 
Babylon  cannot  surely  be  esteemed  the  result  of  those 
sufferings,  when  it  did  not  take  place  till  several  years 
after,  and  that,  not  in  consequence  of  the  devastation  of 
Edom  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
overthrow  of  the  Babylonian  empire  by  Cyrus.  The 
prophet  however,  at  the  close  of  the  35th  chapter,  plainly 
represents  some  restoration  of  the  Jews,  as  being  the 
comequence  of  some  destruction  of  Edom.  This  restora^ 
tion  therefore  cannot  be  the  restoration  from  Babylon. 
And,  if  it  be  not  the  restoration  from  Babylon,  it  can  only 
be  the  yet  future  restoration  ;  at  which  i>eriod,  the  literal 
Edom  will  long  have  ceased  to  be  a  people.  Hence  the 
Edom,  whose  overthrow  is  represented  by  the  prophet  as 
being  closely  connected  with  the  yet  future  restoration  of 
the  Jews,  certainly  cannot  be  at  all  the  literal  Edom  ;  be- 
cause the  overthrow  of  the  literal  Edom  was  connected 
with  no  restoration  of  the  Jews. 

In  fact,  the  mystic  Edom  of  this  prediction,  as  the  Rab- 
bles have  ever  believed  *,  and  as  I  shall  state  -at  large  in 
considering  a  subsequent  prophecy  closely  connected 
with  the  present :  the  mystic  Edom  is  the  Roman  empire^ 
in  the  last  stage  of  its  existence  ;  that  is  to  say,  when  so 
organized  as  to  have  become,  agreeably  to  the  declara- 
tion of  St.  John,  one  great  confederacy  under  the  infu- 
ence  of  Antichrist  \. 

The  overthrow  of  this  mystic  Edom,  whose  desolation 
(it  may  be  observed)  is  described  in  a  manner  closely 
resembling  that  in  which  the  desolation  of  Babylon  is 
described  J,  will  strongly  mark  the  era  of  the  restoration 
of  Judah,  and  will  prepare  a  way  for  the  restoration  of 
Israel.  In  the  3Sth  chapter,  the  two  events  of  the  first 
and  second  advent  of  our  Lord,  are,  in  a  manner  very 

*  "  The  Jewish  writers  c!o  generally  suppose,  that  Edom  in  the  writings 
of  the  prophets  stands  for  Rome"  Mr"  Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  xxxiv.  5. 
t  See  Rev.  xvi.  12—16.  xix.  17— 21. 
i  Compare  Isaiah  xxxiv.  8—17.  with  xiii.  19—22.  and  Rev.  xviii. 


137         ■   '  - 

usual  among  the  prophets,  mingled  together.  Christ  heal- 
ed all  manner  of  diseases  in  the  day  of  his  first  advent ; 
but  the  restoration  ofJudah  will  assuredly  not  take  place 
till  the  day  of  his  second  advent.  Yet,  even  that  part  of 
the  prophecy,  which  relates  to  the  healing  of  the  sick,  the 
unclosing  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  the  opening  the  ears  of 
the  deaf,  and  tlie  causing  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  to  sing, 
may  hereafter  receive  a  yet  more  ample,  though  not  more 
exact,  accomplishment  than  it  has  hitherto  done.  If  the 
Messiah,  during  the  period  of  his  humiliation  only, 
wrought  many  miracles  of  this  nature  in  the  land  of  Ju- 
dea  exclusively ;  I  can  discover  nothing  very  improba- 
ble in  the  supposition,  that  those  miracles  of  beneficence 
may  be  repeated  to  a  much  greater  extent  during  his  tri- 
umphant millennia?!  reign  upon  earth.  At  least,  I  may 
say  with  Mr.  Mede,  that  there  is  certainly  nothing  dero- 
gatory to  the  glory  of  God  in  entertaining  even  the  most 
magnificent  conceptions  of  what  his  Spirit  hath  been 
pleased  to  describe  so  magnificently. 


PROPHECY  X. 


The  first  advent — The  second  advent — The  overthrow  oF  Anti- 
christ— The  conversion  and  restoration  of  the,  spiritually  blind 
Jews — A  denunciation  against  Babylon. 

Isaiah  xlii.  1.  Behold  my  servant,  whom  I  will  up- 
hold ;  my  chosen,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth :  I  will 
make  my  spirit  rest  upon  him  ;  and  he  shall  publish 
judgment  to  the  nations — 3.  The  bruised  reed  he  shall 
not  break;  and  the  dimly  burning  flax  he  shall  not 
quench:  he  shall  publish  judgment,  so  as  to  estab- 
lish it  perfectly.  4.  His  force  shall  not  be  abated  nor 
broken;  until  he  hath  firmly  seated  judgment  in  the 
earth  :  and  the  distant  nations  shall  earnestly  wait  for  his 
law — 9.  The  former  predictions,  lo !  they  are  come  to 
pass  ;  and  new  events  I  now  declare  :  before  they  spring 
forth,  I  make  them  known  unto  you. 

10.  Sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song,  and  hi3  praise 
18 


138i 

lirom  the  end  of  the  earth ;  ye  that  go  down  to  the  sea, 
and  its  fulness;  ye  isles,  and  ye  that  dwell  in  them. 
11.  Let  the  wilderness  and  the  cities  thereof  lift  up  their 
voice,  the  villages  that  Kedar  doth  inhabit :  let  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  rock  sing ;  let  them  shout  from  the  top  of 
the  mountains.  12.  Let  them  give  glory  unto  the  Lord, 
and  declare  his  praise  in  the  islands. 

13.  The  Lord  shall  go  forth  as  a  mighty  man,  he  shall 
stir  up  jealousy  like  a  man  of  war :  he  shall  cry,  yea  he 
shall  roar;  he  shall  prevail  against  his  enemies.  14.  From 
ages  long  past  1  have  holden  my  peace ;  I  have  been  still ; 
I  have  refrained  myself*  :  but  now  I  will  cry  aloud  like 
a  travailing  woman  ;  I  will  destroy  and  devour  at  once. 
15.  I  will  make  waste  mountains  and  hills,  and  dry  up 
all  their  herbs ;  and  I  will  reduce  the  rivers  to  islands, 
and  I  will  diy  up  the  pools.  16.  And  I  will  bring  the 
blind  by  a  way  that  they  knew  not ;  I  will  lead  them  in 
paths  that  they  have  not  known  :  I  will  make  dai'kness 
light  before  them,  and  crooked  things  straight.  These 
things  will  I  do  for  them,  and  not  forsake  them.  17.  They 
shall  be  turned  back,  they  shall  be  greatly  ashamed  that 
trust  in  graven  images,  that  say  to  the  molten  images, 
Ye  are  our  gods. 

18.  Hear,  ye  deaf;  and  look,  ye  blind,  that  ye  may 
see.  19.  Who  is  blind,  but  my  servant ;  and  deaf,  but 
the  messenger  whom  I  sent  ?  Who  is  blind,  but  he  that 
ruleth  over  them  f ;  and  deaf,  but  the  servant  of  the 
Lord  ?  20.  Seeing  many  things,  and  thou  observest  notj  ; 

*  For  ages  long  past  I  have  holden  tny  peace ;  I  have  been  still  ,•  I  have  refrain  • 
ed myself.']  "  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  me  :  I  will  sit  still,  but  1  will 
keep  my  eye  upon  my  prepared  habitation."  ISaiah  xviii.  4.  See  also 
sxx.  13. 

f  He  that  ruleth  over  them."]  Heb.  dS'B'D,  rendered  by  the  lxx,  'Oi  x-vguv- 
ov7f5  Mvluji,  and  in  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Arabic,  ^ui  doininantur  eis. 

t  Seeing  many  things,  and  thou  observest  not.]  This  passage  is  exactly  paral- 
lel to  another,  wherein  Isaiah  describes  the  blindness  and  dispersion  of 
Israel.  "  And  he  said,  Go,  and  tell  this  people.  Hear  ye  indeed,  but  under- 
stand not ;  and  see  ye  indeed,  but  perceive  not.  Make  the  heart  of  this  peo- 
ple fat,  and  make  their  ears  heavy,  and  shut  their  eyes  ;  lest  they  see  with 
their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and 
convert,  and  be  healed.  Then  said  I,  Lord,  how  long  ?  And  he  answered, 
iJntil  the  cities  be  wasted  without  inhabitant,  and  the  houses  without  man, 
and  the  land  be  utterly  desolate,  and  the  Lord  have  removed  men  far  away, 
and  there  be  a  great,  forsaking  in  the  midst  of  the  land."    Isaiah  vi.  9—12- 


139 

he  openeth  the  ears,  and  doth  not  hear.  21.  The  Lord 
is  well  pleased  for  his  righteousness,  sake  ;  he  will  mag- 
nify the  law,  and  make  it  honourable.  22.  But  this  is  a 
people  robbed  and  spoiled  *  ;  they  are  all  snared  in  holes^ 
and  hid  in  prison-houses :  they  are  for  a  prey,  and  none 
delivereth ;  for  a  spoil,  and  none  saith,  Restore. 

23.  Who  among  you  will  give  ear  to  this  ?  who  will 
heai'ken,  and  hear  for  the  time  to  come  ?  24.  Who  gave 
Jacob  for  a  spoil,  and  Israel  to  the  robbers  ?  Did  not  the 
Lord,  he  against  whom  we  have  sinned  ?  For  they  would 
not  walk  in  his  ways,  neither  were  they  obedient  unto  his 
law.  25.  Therefore  he  hath  poured  upon  him  the  fury 
of  his  anger,  and  the  strengh  of  war :  and  it  hath  set  him 
on  fire  round  about,  yet  he  knoweth  not;  and  it  hath 
burned  him,  yet  he  layeth  it  not  to  heart. 

xliii.  1.  But  now,  thus  saith  the  Lord  that  created 
thee,  O  Jacob  ;  and  he  that  formed  thee,  O  Israel :  Fear 
not,  for  I  have  redeemed  thee ;  I  have  called  thee  by  thy 
name,  thou  art  mine.  2.  When  thou  passest  through 
the  waters,  I  will  be  A^'ith  thee  ;  and  through  the  rivers, 
they  shall  not  overflow  thee  :  when  thou  walkest  through 
the  fire,  thou  shalt  not  be  burned  ;  neither  shall  the  flame 
kindle  upon  thee.  3.  For  I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel,  am  thy  saviour :  I  gave  Eg}'^pt  for  thy  ran. 
som,  Ethiopia  and  Saba  instead  of  thee.  4.  Since  thou 
wast  precious  in  my  sight,  thou  hast  been  honourable  and 
I  have  loved  thee :  and  I  will  give  man  for  thee,  and  the 
nations  for  thy  Ufe.  5*  Feai*  not,  for  I  am  with  thee  :  I 
will  bring  thy  seed  from  the  east  and  gather  thee  from 
the  west :  6.  I  will  say  to  the  north.  Give  up  ;  and  to 
the  south.  Keep  not  back  :  bring  my  sons  from  far,  and 
my  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  7.  Every  one 
that  is  called  by  my  name :  for  I  have  created  him  for 
my  glory,  I  have  formed  him,  yea  I  have  made  him. 
8.  Bring  forth  the  blind  people  t»  and  they  shall  have 
eyes  ;  and  the  deaf,  and  they  shall  have  ears.  9.  Let  all 

•  This  is  a  people  robbed  and  spoiled."]  "  Go,  swift  messengers,  unto  a 
nation  dragged  away  and  plucked,  unto  a  people  wonderful  from  their  be- 
ginning hitherto,  a  nation  excepting  expecting  and  trampled  under  foot, 
whose  land  rivers  have  spoiled."     Isaiah  xviii.  2. 

,    -J-  Bring  forth  the   blind  people.']      "  Blindness  in  part  is  happened  unt® 
Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come."    Rom.  xi.  25. 


140 

the  nations  be  gathered  together,  and  let  the  people  be 
assembled ;  who  among  them  can  declare  this,  and  shew 
us  former  things  ?  Let  them  bring  forth  their  witnesses 
that  they  may  be  justified  ;  and  let  them  hear,  that  they 
may  speak  the  truth.  10.  Ye  ai*e  my  witnesses,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  my  servants  whom  I  have  chosen :  that  ye 
may  know,  and  believe  me,  and  understand  that  I  am 
He  :  before  me  there  was  no  God  formed,  neither  shall 
there  be  any  after  me.  11.  I,  even  I,  am  the  l^ord  ;  and 
beside  me  there  is  no  Saviour.  12.  I  have  declared,  and 
I  have  saved,  and  I  have  shewed ;  and  among  you  there 
shall  be  no  strange  God  :  and  ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith 
the  Lord,  and  I  am  God.  13.  Even  before  time  was,  I 
am  he  ;  and  there  is  none  that  can  rescue  out  of  my  hand: 
I  work  :  and  who  shall  undo  what  I  have  done  ?    . 

14.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  your  Redeemer,  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel :  For  j-our  sake  have  I  sent  unto  Babylon; 
and  I  will  bring  down  all  her  strong  bars,  and  the  Chal- 
deans exulting  in  their  ships.  15.  I  am  the  Lord,  your 
Holy  One  ;  the  creator  of  Israel,  your  king. 

16.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  who  made  a  way  in  the  sea, 
and  a  path  in  the  mighty  waters  ;  17.  Who  brought  forth 
the  rider  and  the  horse,  the  army  and  the  warrior :  toge- 
tlier  they  lay  down,  they  rose  no  more ;  they  were  extin- 
guished, they  were  quenched  like  tow.  18.  Remember 
not  the  former  things ;  and  the  things  of  ancient  times 
regard  not :  19.  Behold,  I  make  a  new  thing  ;  even  now 
shall  it  spring  forth  :  will  ye  not  regard  it  ?  Yea,  I  will 
make  in  the  wilderness  a  way  ;  in  the  desert,  streams  of 
water.  20.  The  wild  beast  of  the  field  shall  glorify  me  ; 
the  dragons,  and  the  daughters  of  the  ostrich  :  because  I 
have  given  waters  in  the  wilderness  ;  and  flowing  streams 
in  the  desert ;  to  give  drink  to  my  people,  my  chosen  : 
21.  This  people,  whom  I  have  formed  for  myself;  who- 
shall  recount  my  praise. 

COMMENTARY. 

Isaiah  opens  this  prophecy  w^th  a  description  of  the 
Messiah  at  the  time  of  his^^r^^  advent :  but  he  is  soon 
naturally  carried  forward  into  the  days  oithe  seco?id  advent^ 


141 

by  the  declaration,  that  the  Saviour's  force  shall  not  be 
abated,  nor  broken,  until  he  hath  firmly  seated  judgment 
in  the  earth,  and  until  the  distant  nations  shall  earnestly 
wait  for  his  law.  Such  an  introduction  may  serve  as  a 
key  to  all  that  follows ;  teaching  us  to  refer  the  latter 
part  of  the  predictioji  to  the  final  ?Tsto?'ation  of  Israel, 
and  consequently  teaching  us  to  understand  the  Babylon 
which  is  then  to  be  destroyed,  not  literally,  but  mysti- 
cally. 

Having  pourtrayed  the  character  of  the  Messiah,  and 
having  announced  that  he  is  now  about  to  declare  a  new 
series  of  events,  Isaiah  solemnly  calls  upon  the  whole 
world  to  praise  the  Lord ;  and  then  proceeds  to  foretell, 
that,  at  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  God  shall  go 
forth  in  great  wrath  to  confound  his  enemies,  even  that 
impious  Aiitichristian  confederacy  so  largely  described  in 
other  predictions,  which  should  dare  to  oppose  the  re- 
turn of  the  converted  of  his  people.  After  he  has  long 
holden  his  peace,  after  a  long  cessation  of  the  visible  in- 
terpositions of  his  providence,  after  he  has  long  been  still 
and  has  refrained  himself ;  he  shall  now,  in  the  last  days^ 
lift  up  his  voice,  and  destroy  those  who  had  madly  taken 
up  arms  against  him.  At  this  dreadful  period,  at  this 
time  of  the  end,  he  shall  lay  waste  symbolical  mountains 
and  hills  ;  and  shall  wither  all  their  herbs,  and  exhaust 
their  rivers  so  that  islands  shall  be  formed  in  their  beds : 
in  other  words,  as  it  is  similarly  predicted  by  St.  John 
•  when  describing  the  same  awful  consummation  of  the 
present  order  of  things  under  the  seventh  vial^,  he  shall 
overturn  both  the  larger  and  smaller  Antichristian  pow- 
ers, shall  diminish  their  population,  and  shall  dry  up  their 
resources.  Then  will  he  lead  those,  who  have  long  been 
mysteriously  blind  in  error,  by  a  way  that  they  have  not 
known ;  and  convert  their  intellectual  darkness  into  light. 
Then  shall  the  deaf  hear  the  trumpet  of  the  gospel ;  and 
the  blind  behold  the  up-raised  banner  of  the  Messiah. 
For  who  are  the  blind  and  deaf,  but  the  ancient  people  of 
God  ?  Hath  not  blindness  happened  alike  to  the  whole  of 
Israel?  the  ruler  and  the  ruled,  the  teacher  and  the  taught? 
Are  they  not  a  nation  robbed  and  spoiled ;  a  prey,  and 

*  Rev.  xvi,  2©. 


1.42 

none  delivereth  ?  And  yet  who  hath  given  Jacob  for  a 
spoil,  and  Israel  to  the  robbers  ;  except  the  Lord  against 
whom  he  hath  sinned,  the  IVIost  High  whose  law  he  hath 
transgressed  ?  It  is  on  this  account  that  he  hath  poured 
upon  him  the  fury  of  his  anj^er  :  nevertheless,  such  is  his 
judicial  infatuation,  that,  although  the  fire  burneth  him,  he 
layeth  it  not  to  heart,  he  understandeth  it  not. 

But,  while  Israel  is  thus  enveloped  in  thick  darkness, 
the  Lord,  who,  in  the  midst  of  apparent  neglect,  hath  all 
along  kept  his  eye  upon  him,  who  hath  steadily  though 
secretly  been  causing  the  jarring  affairs  of  the  world  to 
subserve  his  own  high  purj)oses ;  the  Lord  will  suddenly 
call  aloud,  and  make  his  voice  to  be  heard  ta  the  very 
ends  of  the  world.  The  north  shall  give  up  the  dispers- 
ed of  his  people  ;  and  the  south  shall  not  keep  back.  The 
seed  of  Jacob  shall  be  brought  from  the  east,  and  gather- 
ed from  the  west.  The  blind  people  shall  wonderfully 
return,  and  they  shall  have  eyes  ;  the  deaf,  and  they  shall 
have  ears.  Upheld  by  the  powerful  arm  of  the  Lord, 
they  shall  neither  be  overwhelmed  by  the  rivers  of  inva- 
ders that  have  long  spoiled  their  country,  nor  destroyed 
by  the  desolating  fire  of  war.  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  and  Seba, 
which  were  lately  numbered  among  the  conquests  of 
Antichrist y  shall  now  become,  as  it  were,  a  ransom  for 
Israel  *  ;  men  shall  be  given  for  him,  and  nations  for  his 
life.  In  the  midst  of  the  assembled  tribes  of  the  earth, 
he  shall  be  the  chosen  witness  of  the  Lord  ;  and  all  peo- 
ple shall  acknowledge,  that  beside  Jehovali,  there  is  no  « 
Saviour. 

To  this  prophecy,  respecting  the  final  restoration  of 
Israel,  Isaiah  attaches  a  severe  denunciation  against  Ba- 
bylon ;  that  is  to  say,  the  mystic  Babylon,  or  the  Roman 
Antichristian  confederacy,  for  so  the  context  leads  us  to 
understand  it. 

*  These  countries,  at  least  Egj^pt  and  Ethiopia,  will  be  conquered  by 
Antichrist  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  jfenus,  (Dan.  xi.  42,  43.)  It  is 
proper  to  remark,  that  this  part  of  the  prediction  has  been  applied  to  the 
days  both  of  Sennacherib  and  Shalmaneser ;  but,  as  Bp.  Lowth  observes, 
without  any  clear  proof  from  history.  In  fact,  the  general  tenor  of  the 
whole  prophecy  shews  plainly,  that  it  must  be  referred  to  the  days  of  the 
second  advent  and  the  general  restoration  of  Israel.  See  particulai'ly  Chap„. 
Xliii.  Ver.  5,  6,  7. 


143 

When  the  great  confederacy  is  broken,  then  will  the 
ten  tribes  begin  to  be  rest  ored ;  and,  from  this  and  other 
similar  predictions,  there  is  reason  to  think,  that  their 
restoration  will  not  be  tmattended  by  miracles.  Since 
both  here  and  elsewhere  *  it  is  compared  to  the  Exodus 
from  Egypt,  it  is  not  unnatural  to  suppose  that  there  will 
be  a  certain  degree  even  of  circumstantial  resemblance 
between  them. 


PROPHECY  XL 

The  gathering  both   of  Jews  and  Gentiles  into  the  millennian 
church — The  greatness  of  Israel— The  fall  of  Antichrist. 

Isaiah  xlix.  5.  And  now  saith  the  Lord  that  formed 
me  from  the  womb  to  be  his  servant,  to  bring  Jacob 
again  to  him ;  (^Jhr  even  Israel  shall  be  gathered  unto 
himf,  and  I  shall  be  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord, 
and  my  God  shall,  be  my  strength : )  6.  And  he  said.  It 
is  a  light  thing  that  thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise 
up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of 
Israel :  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles, 
that  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation  unto  the  end  of  the 
earth.  7.  Thus  isaith  the  Lord,  the  Redeemer  of  Israel 
and  his  Holy  One,  to  him  whom  man  despiseth,  to  him. 
^whom  the  nation  abhorreth,  to  a  servant  of  rulers  :  Kings 
shall  see,  and  aris(i ;  princes  also  shall  worship  ;  because 
of  the  Lord  that  is  faithful,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  and 
he  shall  choose  thee.  8.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  In  an 
acceptable  time  have  I  heard  thee,  and  in  a  day  of  salva- 
tion have  I  helped  thee  :  and  I  will  preserve  thee,  and 

*  Compare  Isaiah  xi.  15,  16. 

•j-  Even  Israel  shall  be  gathered  unto  him.']  I  have  adopted  the  marginat 
reading-  "h,  instead  of  the  textual  reading  n*?  ;  both  because  it  appears  to  me 
to  correspond  much  better  with  the  declaration  of  Christ's  office,  and  be- 
cause it  evidently  was  the  received  reading  in  the  days  of  the  Seventy.  la 
verse  4,  our  Lord  complains  of  his  fruitless  labour  among  the  ^ewi :  here  he 
asserts,  that,  notwithstanvding  the  former  unsuccessfulness  of  his  ministry, 
his  office  was  to  bring  b  ack  yac»b  to  his  God,  and  therefore  that  Israel 
should  siurely  be  gathered  unto  him.  The  lxx  translate  the  passage  as  fol- 
lows, omitting  the  negative  particle — Tif  c-vittyetym  IxKaji  vfoi  »vlcy,  xeii 
I«-p«t)}A.     See  Bp.  Lowth  in  U  ic 


144 

give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  tide  people,  to  raise  up  thu 
earth,  to  cause  to  inherit  the  de  solate  heritages  ;  9.  Say- 
ing unto  the  prisoners,  Go  forth ;  to  them  that  are  in 
darkness  *,  Be  ye  discovered.  They  shall  feed  by  the 
ways,  and  their  pastures  shall  be  in  all  high  places. 
10.  They  shall  not  hunger,  nor  thirst ;  neither  shall  the 
heat  nor  sun  smite  them  :  for  he  that  hath  mercy  on  them 
shall  lead  them,  even  by  the  springs  of  water  shall  he 
guide  them.  11.  And  I  will  make  all  my  mountains  a 
way,  and  my  high  ways  shall  be  exalted.  12.  Behold, 
these  shall  come  from  far  ;  and  lo,  these  from  the  north 
and  from  the  west ;  and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim. 

13.  Sing,  O  heavens ;   and  be  joyful,  O  earth ;   and 
break  forth  into  singing,  O  mountains  :  for  the  Lord  hath 
comforted  his  people,  and  will  have  mercy  upon  his  af- 
flicted.    14.    But  Zion  said.  The  Lord  hath  forsaken 
me,  and  my  Lord  hath  forgotten  me.      15.     Can  a  wo- 
man forget  her  sucking  child,  that  she  should  not  have 
compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb  ?  Yea,  they  may 
forget ;  yet  will  I  not  forget  thee.     16.  Behold,  I  have 
graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of  my  hands ;  thy  walls  are 
continually  before  me.      17.   Thy  children  shall  make 
haste ;  thy  destroyers,  and  they  that  made  thee  waste, 
shall  go  forth  of  thee  f.     18.  Lift  up  thine  eyes  round 
about,  and  behold  :  all  these  gather  themselves  together, 
and  come  to  thee.     As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  thou  shalt 
surely  clothe  thee  with  them  all  as  with  an  ornament,  and 
bind  them  on  thee  like  a  bride.     19.  Though  thou  hast 
had  only  waste  and  desolate  places  and  a  land  of  destruc- 
tion, yet  now  thou  shalt  be  straitened  for  room  by  reason 
of  thy  inhabitants  ;  and  they  that  swallowed  thee  up  shall 
be  far  away.     20.  As  yet  the  children,  of  whom  thou 
hast  been  bereaved,  shall  say  in  thine  ears ;  The  place  is 
too  strait  for  me ;  come  close  unto  me,  that  I  may  have 

*  Saying  to  them,  that  are  in  darkness,  Be  ye  discovered '\  I  think  that  the 
lost  ten  tribes  are  here  intended.  The  passage  seems  to  be  parallel  to  one 
already  considered.  "  They,  that  were  lost  in  the  land  of  Assyria,  shall 
come."     Isaiah  xxvii.  13. 

f  Bp.  Lowth  translates  this  verse,  They,  that  destroyed  thee,  shall  soon  become 
thy  builders  ;  and  they,  that  laid  thee  nvaste,  shall  become  thine  offspring.  I  do  not 
see  much  necessity  for  altering  the  common  version.  In  a  subsequent  pas- 
sage however  "j^ja  ought   undoubtedly  to  be  rendered  thy  builders,  not 

fhy  s»ns. 


145 

r 00)11  to  dwell.  21.  Then  shalt  thou  say  in  thine  heart, 
Who  hath  begotten  me  these  *,  seeing  I  have  lost  my 
children,  and  am  desolate,  migrating  from  one  country 
to  another,  and  turning  aside  out  of  the  way  ;  and  who 
hath  brought  up  these  ?  Behold,  I  was  left  alone  :  these, 
where  have  they  been  ?  22.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Behold  I  will  lift  up  mine  hand  to  the  Gentiles ;  and  set 
up  my  banner  unto  the  nations :  and  they  shall  bring  thy 
sons  in  their  arms  f,  and  thy  daughters  shall  be  carried 
upon  their  shoulders,  23.  And  kings  shall  be  thy  nurs- 
ing fathers,  and  their  queens  thy  nursing  mothers  :  they 
shall  bow  down  to  thee  %  with  their  face  toward  the  earth, 
and  shall  lick  up  the  dust  of  thy  feet :  and  thou  shalt  know 
that  I  am  the  Lord,  and  they  shall  not  be  ashamed  that 
wait  for  me. 

24.  Shall  the  prey  be  taken  from  the  mighty,  or  shall 
the  captive  of  the  terrible  §  be  delivered?  25.  But  thus 
saith  the  Loid,  Even  the  captive  of  the  mighty  shall  be 
taken  away,  and  the  prey  of  the  terrible  shall  be  deliver- 
ed :  for  I  will  contend  with  him  that  contendeth  with 
thee,  and  I  will  save  thy  children.  26.  And  I  will  cause 
them  that  oppress  thee  to  eat  their  own  flesh,  and  they 
shall  be  drunken  with  their  own  blood  as  with  sweet 
wine  :  and  all  flesh  shall  know,  that  I  the  Lord  am  thy 
Saviour  and  Redeemer,  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob. 

commE'ntary. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  prophecy,  Christ,  having 
complained  that  he  hath  laboured  in  vain  in  the  conver- 
sion of  Israel,  declareth  nevertheless,  that  it  is  his  oflice 
to  bring  Jacob  back  again  to  the  Lord,  and  that  Israel 

*  Who  hath  begotten  me  these .?]  The  surprize  of  yudah  at  being  reunited 
■with  Ephraim  is  probably  here  described — judah  is  to  be  first  restored,  partly 
in  a  converted  state  by  the  great  inarithne  poiver,  and  partly  in  an  unconvert- 
ed state  by  Antichrist ,-  and  afterwards  Ephraim,  by  the  continental  powers 
of  the  east  and  the  north. 

f  They  shall  bring  thy  sons  in  their  arms^  The  restoration  of  Ephrai-nt, 
seems  here  to  be  peculiarly  meant.  Compare  this  passage  with  Isaiah  Ixvi. 
19,  20. 

\  They  shall  bow  donun  to  thee  ivith  their  face  toward  the  earth.']  Compare 
Isaiah  ii.  2,  3. 

§  The  terrible.'}  For  pnx  read  Y''V-  ^or  reasons  and  authorities  see  Bps 
liowth  in  loc. 

19 


146 

shall  surely  be  gathered  unto  him  ;  nor  yet  Israel  alone, 
but  all  the  fur  distant  tribes  of  the  Gentiles.  Despised 
as  the  Redeemer  was  at  his  jirst  advent^  kings  shall  see 
aiid  worship  him  in  a  manner  ytl  more  extensive  and 
glorious  than  the  world  hath  ever  yet  beheld.  He  shall 
cause  the  Jexvs  again  to  inherit  their  desolate  heritage. 
He  shall  sptak.  the  word,  and  the  prisoners  shall  go  forth 
at  his  bidding.  He  shall  eall  aloud  to  the  ten  tribes^  that 
have  been  so  long  shrouded  in  darkness  and  have  so  long- 
eluded  eveiT  inquir}^  ;  and  they  shall  forth^^•ith  be  disco- 
vered. He  that  hath  mercy  on  them  will  lead  them ; 
ever}"^  obstacle  to  their  return  will  be  removed  ;  and  they 
shall  come  from  the  north,  and  from  the  west,  and  from 
the  land  of  the  Sinim  ^.  Long  as  the  Lord  hath  seem- 
ed to  forget  Zicii,  he  hath  still  kept  his  eye  upon  her,  and 
will  in  due  time  destroy  her  destroyers  and  majvc  her  the 
gloiy  of  the  whole  earth.  Her  younger  sisters,  the 
churches  of  the  Gentiles^  shall  flock  unto  her ;  the  land 
of  her  desolation  shall  be  too  narrow  for  the  multitude  of 
her  children  ;  and  they  that  devoured  her  shall  be  driven 
far  away.  Even  she  herself  shall  marvel  at  the  number 
of  her  offspring,  she  who  hath  so  long  been  a  wanderer 
over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  when  she  beholds 
Eprraim  joined  to  Jiidah  and  the  remnant  of  Israel  to  the 
house  of  David.  Obedient  to  the  command  of  the  Lord, 
the  Gentiles  shall  bring  her  children  from  aftu' :  kings  shall 
be  her  nursing  fathers  :  and.  if  her  fiill  hath  been  the 
riches  of  the  ^vorld,  if  her  diminishir.g  hath  been  the 
riches  of  the  Gentiles,  ho^v  much  more  her  fulness  ! 

Here  the  prophet,  as  usual,  calls  our  attention  to  the 
fall  of  Antichrist,  which  he  almost  invariably  connects 
with  the  restoration  of  the  Jexvs.  He  asks,  whether  the 
prey  shall  surely  be  deliAered  from  that  mighty  tyrant, 
and  }vhether  his  captives  shall  be  rescued  from  him  ?  To 
this  the  Lord  solemnly  answers,  that  even  the  captive  of 

*  By  these  Sinim  some  have  understood  the  Chinese  or  Sinenses ;  but  Boch- 
art  objects  to  the  notion,  on  the  ground  tliat  the  Chinese  were  then  unknown 
in  the  more  western  parts  of  the  wovld.  He  himself  supposes  them  to  be 
the  inhabitants  of  Sin  or  Pelusium  in  Egypt ;  and  undoubtedly  there  are  some 
prophecies  which  speak  of  the  return  of  the  ^evus  out  of  that  country,  at  the 
era  of  the  restoration.  See  Bochart  Phaleg.  L.  iv.  C.  27.  p.  275.  and  Mr. 
Lowth  in  loc. 


147 


the  mighty  shall  be  tuken  away,  and  the  prey  of  the  ter- 
rible delivered ;  for  that  he  will  contend  with  all  the  ene- 
mies of  Zion,  and  save  her  children  ;  that  he  will  signally 
avenge  her  upon  her  oppressors  ;  and  that  at  length  all 
flesh  shall  know,  that  the  Lord  is  the  Saviour  of  Jacob. 


PROPHECY  XII. 

The  joy  and  prosperity  of  the  once  desolate  church  of  Judah  at/ 
the  time  of  the  restoration — The  vain  gathering  together  of 
Antichrist. 

Isaiah  liv.  1.  Sing,  O  barren,  thou  that  didst  not 
bear ;  break  forth  into  singing  and  cry  aloud,  thou  that 
didst  not  travail  with  child  :  for  more  are  the  children  of 
the  desolate  than  the  children  of  the  married  wife,  saith 
the  Lord.  2.  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent,  and  let  them 
stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thine  habitations  :  spare  not, 
lengthen  thy  cords,  and  strengthen  thy  stakes.  3.  For 
thou  shalt  break  forth  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left ; 
and  thy  seed  shall  inherit  the  Gentiles,  and  they  shall 
cause  the  desolate  cities  to  be  inhabited.  4.  Fear  not, 
for  thou  shalt  not  be  ashamed ;  and,  turn  not  away  thy 
face  for  shame,  for  thou  shalt  not  be  abashed  :  for  thou 
shalt  forget  the  shame  of  thy  youth,  and  shalt  not  remem- 
ber the  reproach  of  thy  widowhood  any  more.  5.  For 
thy  Maker  is  thine  husband ;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his 
name  :  and  thy  Redeemer  is  the  Holy  One  of  Israel ;  the 
God  of  the  whole  eju'th  shall  he  be  called.  6.  For  the 
Lord  hath  called  thee  as  a  woman  forsaken  and  grieved 
in  spirit ;  and  a  wife  of  youth,  when  thou  wast  refused, 
saith  thy  God.  7.  For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken 
thee  :  but  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee.  8.  In  a 
little  wrath  I  hid  my  face  from  thee  for  a  moment ;  but 
with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on  thee, 
saith  the  Lord  thy  Redeemer.  9.  For  this  is  as  the 
waters  of  Noah  unto  me  :  as  I  have  sworn  that  the 
waters  of  Noah  should  no  more  go  over  the  earth ;  so 
have  I  sAvorn  that  I  would  not  be  wroth  with  thee,  nor 


148 

rebuke  thee.  10.  F'or  the  mountiiins  shall  depart,  and 
the  hills  be  removed;  but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart 
from  thee,  neither  sliall  the  eo^'enant  of  my  peace  be  re- 
moved, saith  the  Lord  that  hath  mercy  on  thee.  11.  O 
thou  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest,  and  not  comforted  I 
behold,  I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colours,  and  lay 
thy  foundations  with  sapphires.  12.  And  I  will  make 
thy  windows  of  agates,  and  thy  gates  of  carbuncles,  and 
all  thy  borders  of  pleasant  stones.  13.  And  all  thy  chil- 
dren shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord :  and  great  shall  be  the 
peace  of  thy  children.  14.  In  righteousness  shalt  thou 
be  established  :  thou  shalt  be  far  from  oppression,  for 
thou  shalt  not  fear  ;  and  from  terror,  for  it  shall  not  come 
near  thee. 

15.  Behold,  they  shall  surely  gather  together,  but  not 
by  me  ^  :  whoever  shall  gather  together  against  thee, 
shall  fall  before  thee.  16.  Behold,  I  have  created  the 
armourer,  that  blo\\eth  the  coals  in  the  fire,  and  that 
bringeth  forth  a  weajDon  by  his  workmanship  ;  and  I  have 
created  destruction  for  a  snare  t-  17.  No  weapon,  that 
is  formed  against  thee,  shall  prosper ;  and  every  tongue, 
that  shall  rise  against  thee  |  in  judgment,  thou  shalt  con- 
demn. This  is  the  heritage  of  the  servants  of  the  Lord,, 
and  their  righteousness  is  of  me,  saith  the  Lord. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  prophet  calls  upon  the  desolate  church  of  Jttdah 
to  sing  aloud  for  joy,  because  her  restoration  draweth 
nigh.  Alienated  from  God  by  her  obstinate  infidelity 
and  infatuated  rejection  of  the  Messiah,  she  had  long 

*  They  sliall  gather  together,  but  not  by  me."]  Compare  Rev,  xvi  12 — 16.  xix. 
19 — 21.  Up.  Lowtli  translates  the  orig-inal  words  league  together,  whicli 
frreatly  heij^htens  the  sense.  Antichrist  Is  to  unite  himself",  by  a  federal  league, 
with  the  false  Romish  prophet  and  the  vassal  kings  of  the  Latin  earth,  so  tliat 
tliey  shall  jointly  form  one  great  conspiracy. 

f  I  have  created  destruction  fur  a  snare.'^  I  have  created  the  powers  of  dai'k- 
ness,  and  for  a  season  suffer  tliem  to  prevail ;  but,  in  the  midst  of  their  ma- 
cliinations  against  others,  they  shall  suddenly  fall  into  a  snare  themselves. 
Compare  Isaiali  xxiv.  16,  17,  18.  and  Rev.  xi.  18. 

+  Every  tongue  that  shall  rise  against  thee.']  These  words  may  possibly  con- 
tain an  allusion  to  the  destroying-  anathema  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet, 
when  they  shall  sanctify  war  and  imprecate  the  vengeaiTCe  of  heaven  upon 
all  their  opponents. 


149 

ceased  to  bring  forth  spiritual  children :  but  now  she  hath 
need  to  enlarge  her  tents,  and  to  extend  the  limits  of  her 
habitation  ;  for  her  children  shall  vie  in  number  even  with 
those  of  the  married  wife,  that  ingrafted  olive  the  church  ^ 
of  the  Gentiles ;  and  her  forsaken  cities  shall  again  be 
inhabited.  In  order  that  she  may  not  despair  by  reason 
of  the  depth  of  her  humiliation,  she  is  exhorted  not  to 
fear :  because,  rejected  as  she  may  be  at  present  from 
being  the  mystic  wife  of  God  as  she  formerly  was,  and 
therefore  mourning  in  a  state  of  symbolical  widowhood  j 
yet  she  shall  shortly  forget  the  shame  of  her  youth,  and 
the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  acknowledge  himself  to  be  her 
husband.  Though  she  may  now  appear  like  a  woman 
forsaken  and  refused,  like  a  deserted  wife  of  a  man's 
youth  ;  God  declares,  that  he  hath  forsaken  her  only  for 
a  little  moment,  and  swears  by  an  oath  as  inviolable  as 
that  which  he  swore  to  Noah,  that  he  will  mercifully 
gather  her  and  establish  the  covenant  of  his  peace  with 
her.  She  hath  been,  during  the  days  of  her  widowhood, 
afflicted,  tossed  with  tempests,  and  not  comforted ;  but 
her  cities  shall  be  rebuilt  with  increased  splendor,  her 
children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  slie  shall  be  estab- 
lished in  righteousness,  and  she  shall  be  delivered  fromi 
fear  and  oppression. 

This  incidental  mention  of  her  deliverance  from  the 
terror  of  her  enemies  leads  Isaiah,  as  usual,  to  predict 
the  doxvnfal  of  Antichrist ;  who  in  the  last  days  shall 
gather  together  his  forces  against  the  converted  ofJudak, 
and  plant  the  curtains  of  his  pavilions  between  the  seas 
in  the  glorious  holy  mountain.  His  gathering  however 
is  not  from  the  Lord,  but  from  the  diabolical  influence  of 
Satan ;  therefore  shall  he  rush  forward  only  to  his  own 
destruction,  and  shall  fall  before  the  returning  people  of 
God.  Yet,  although  the  sovereign  judge  of  heaven  and 
earth  disclaims  the  impious  enterprize  of  Antichrist ;  he 
asserts,  that  it  is  he  who  hath  created  the  armourer  to 
forge  weapons  of  war,  and  who  hath  created  destruction 
itself,  even  destruction  personified  in  the  last  great  oppo- 
ser  of  his  puqjoses,  to  fall  into  the  snare  which  he  hath 
prepared  for  it.  Neither  the  weapons  of  violence,  nor  the 
invectives  of  his  enraged  enemy,  shall  prevail  against 
Judah :  he  shall  alike  triumph  over  both* 


150 


PROPHECY  XIII. 


The  spiritual  glory  of  the  rtiillennian  church — The  continental 
restoration  of  the  ten  tribes — The  maritime  restoration  of  the 
converted  of  Judah. 

Isaiah  Ix.  1*.  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.  2.  For,  be- 
hold, darkness  shall  cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness 
the  people  :  but  the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  his 
glory  shall  be  seen  upon  thee.  3.  And  the  Gentiles  shall 
come  to  thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy 
rising.  4.  Lift  up  thine  eyes  round  about,  and  see  :  all 
they  gather  themselves  together,  they  come  to  thee  :  thy 
sons  shall  come  from  far,  and  thy  daughters  shall  be 
nursed  at  thy  side.  5.  Then  shalt  thou  see,  and  flow 
together ;  and  thine  heart  shall  fear,  and  be  enlarged ; 
because  the  multitude  of  the  sea  shall  be  turned  unto 
thee,  the  forces  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come  unto  thee. 
6.  The  multitude  of  camels  shall  cover  thee,  the  drome- 
daries of  Median  and  Ephah  ;  all  they  from  Sheba  shall 
come  ;  they  shall  bring  gold  and  incense  ;  and  they  shall 
shew  forth  the  praises  of  the  Lord.  7.  All  the  flocks  of 
Kediu*  shall  be  gathered  together  unto  thee,  the  rams  of 
Nebaioth  f  shall  minister  unto  thee  :  they  shall  come  up 
with  acceptance  on  mine  altar,  and  I  will  glorify  the  house 
of  my  glory. 

8.  Who  are  these  ?  Like  a  cloud  they  fly,  and  like 
doves  to  their  holes  J.     9.  Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for 

*  Chap.  Ix.]  "  We  may  suppose  the  groundwork  of  the  prophecies,  con- 
tained in  tliis  and  the  two  following  chapters  to  be  the  yeius'  restoration  from 
captivity.     Mr.  Lnwth  in  Inc. 

f  The  dromedaries  of  Midian — all  they  from,  Sheha — the  fiocks  of  Kedar — 
the  rams  of  Nebaioth.~\  "They  shall  fly  along  the  borders  of  ti)e  Phihstines 
towards  the  west ;  they  shall  spoil  them  of  the  east  together  :  they  shall  lay 
their  hand  upon  Edom  and  Moab,  and  the  children  of  Ammon  shall  obey 
them."     Isaiah  xi.  14. 

t  Doves  to  their  holes.']  They  shall  fly  with  a  trembling  rapidity  to  the  land 
of  their  refuge,  like  doves  to  holes  in  thfe  rocks.  "  Dr.  Richard  Chandler,  in 
his  travels  in  Asia  Minor,  has  taken  notice  of  the  doves  tliere  lodging  in  holes 
of  the  rocks."  Harmer's  Observ.  Vol.   iii.  p.  55.    See  Cant.  ii.  14. 

— —  6ix  ipvyev,  »?  re  TreMix, 
'H  f<t6'  v<p*  'i^ijKOi  KotXijv  ei<re7rl»lo  Trel^n"'     Iliad,  xxi.  ^tPS'- 


151 

me,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish  among  the  first  *,  to  bring 
thy  sons  from  far,  their  silver  and  their  gold  with  them, 
unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  unto  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel,  because  he  hath  glorified  me.  10.  And  the 
sons  of  strangers  shall  build  thy  walls,  and  their  kings 
shall  minister  unto  thee  :  for  in  my  wrath  I  smote  thee, 
but  in  my  favour  have  I  had  mercy  on  thee.  11.  There- 
fore thy  gates  t  shall  be  open  continually  ;  they  shall  not 
be  shut  day  nor  night ;  to  bring  unto  thee  the  forces  of  ' 
the  Gentiles,  even  their  kings  magnificently  conducted. 
12.  For  the  nation  and  kingdom  J,  that  will  not  serve 
thee,  shall  perish  :  yea,  the  nations  shall  be  utterly  wast- 
ed. 13.  The  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  come  unto  thee, 
the  fir,  the  pine,  and  the  box  together,  to  beautify  the 
place  of  my  sanctuaiy  ;  and  I  will  make  the  place  of  my 
feet  glorious.  14.  The  sons  also  of  them,  that  aiflicted 
thee,  shall  come  bending  unto  thee  ;  and  all  they  that  des- 
pised thee,  shall  bow  themselves  down  at  the  soles  of  thy 
feet :  and  they  shall  call  thee.  The  city  of  the  Lord,  the 
Zion  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.   15.  Instead  of  thy  being 

*  The  ships  of  Tarshish  among  thejirst.'\  The  ships  of  tliat  particular  coun- 
try of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles,  which  at  the  period  of  the  completion  of  tlie 
prophecy  will  command  at  sea.  In  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament,  the 
ships  of  Tyre  are  ordinarily  called  ships  of  Tarshish,  apparently  from  the 
great  commercial  intercourse  between  Tyre  and  Tarshish,  much  perhaps  in 
the  same  manner  as  our  principal  trading  vessels  are  termed  east  or  luest-in- 
dianien.  Tyre  however  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  a  nation  :  the  ships  of 
Tarshish  therefore,  at  the  era  of  the  yet  future  return  of  the  j^eivs,  certainly 
cannot  be  literal  Tyrian  -vessels.  Hence  we  must  necessarily,  1  think,  con- 
clude them  to  be  the  ships  of  soone  poiver  of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles,  that  is, 
some  European  power,  which  in  the  modern  world  shall  answer  to  Tyre  in  the 
ancient  world  ;  but,  ivhat  poiver  will  accord  with  such  a  description  when  the 
^evis  begin  to  be  restored,  can  only  be  determined  by  the  event.  Thus  far 
liowever  we  may  venture  to  assert,  from  the  more  ample  description  which 
Isaiah  gives  us  of  it  in  his  IQth  chapter,  that  it  will  certainly  be  a  nation  of 
faithful  xuorshippers,  and  therefore  not  a  popish  nation.  This  position  indeed 
necessarily  follows  from  the  collateral  predictions  of  Daniel  and  St.  John, 
which  teach  us  that  the  return  of  the  cojiverted  ^e-jcs  shall  be  opposed  by  an 
arined  confederacy  of  Antichrist,  the  false  Roinish  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the- 
Latin  earth. 

It  may  not  be  Improper  to  observe,  that  ships  of  Tarshish  sometimes  mean 
simply  large  vessels  Jit  for  undertaking  long  voyages  by  sea.  (See  Well's  Geog. 
of  the  Old  and  New  Test.  Vol.  1  p.  72,  73.)  The  sense  will  be  much  the 
same  :  for  in  either  case,  the  prophecy  foretells,  that  the  converted  ^eius  will 
be  brought  back  in  large  vessels  belonging  to  the  then  principal  maritime  Eu- 
ropean protestant  power. 

f   Thy  gates  shall  be  open  continually."]   Compare  Rev.  xxi.  25. 

t  The  nation  and  the  kingdom,,  that  viill  not  serve  thee,  shall  perish."]  The 
©yerthrow  of  Antichrist  and  his  confederates  seems  here  to  be  briefly  alluded  to. 


152 

forsaken  and  hated  and  without  any  one  passing  through 
thee,  I  will  make  thee  an  eternal  excellency,  a  joy  from 
generation  to  generation.   16.   Thou  shalt  also  suck  the 
milk  of  the  Gentiles,  and  shalt  suck  the  breast  of  kings ; 
and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  thy  Saviour,  and 
the  mighty  One  of  Jacob  thy  redeemer.     17.  For  brass 
I  will  bring  gold  *,  and  for  iron  I  will  bring  silver  ;  and 
for  wood  brass,  and  for  stones  iron  :  and  I  will  make 
thy  superintendants  peace,  and  thy  taskmasters  justice, 
18.  Violence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land,  wasting 
nor  destruction  within  thy  borders ;   but  thou  shalt  call 
thy  walls  Salvation,  and  thy  gates  Praise.     19.  The  sun 
shall  be  no  more  thy  light  by  day  ;  neither  with  bright- 
ness shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee ;   but  the  Lord 
shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting  light,  and  thy  God  thy 
glor}^  20.  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down,  neithej  shall 
thy  moon  withdraw  itself;  for  the   Lord  shall  be  thine 
everlasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy  mourning  sliall  be 
ended.     21.  And  thy  people  all  of  them  shall  be  righ- 
teous :  they  shall  inherit  the  land  for  ever  :  they  are  the 
branch  of  my  planting,  the  work  of  my  hands,  that  I  may 
glorify  myself.     22.  That,  w4iich  was  little,  shall  become 
a  leader  f  ;  and  that,  which  was  small,  a  strong  nation  : 
I,  the  Lord  will  hasten  it,  in  its  season. 

COMMENTARY. 

Much  that  is  interesting  may  be  collected  from  this 
prophecy.  After  a  long  period  of  intellectual  and  spirit- 
ual diu-kness,  Judaical,  Papal,  and  Mohammedan,  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  will  shine  upon  his  ancient  church,  and 
the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles  shall  form  one  flock  under  one 
shepherd. 

*  For  brass  I  will  bring  gold.']     Corapare  Rev.  xxi.  10—26. 

t  That,  which  was  little,  shall  become  a  leader.']  This  part  of  the  pro))liecy» 
like  many  other  prophecies,  appears  to  intimate,  that  Israel  shall  liereafter 
become  the  first  of  nations,  and  Jerusalem  the  metropolis  of  the  miilcimian 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah.  The  elder  sister,  th^  Jewish  church,  shall  then  take 
the  precedency  of  her  younger  sisters,  the  Gentile  Churches  ;  a  precedency 
however,  purely  spiritual  and  readily  accorded  ;  a  precedency,  far  unlike 
th  It  usurped  by  the  apostate  man  of  sin,  the  pretended  successor  of  St.  Pe- 
ter. I  think  it  accords  better  with  the  general  import  of  the  passage  to  tran*- 
l*te  nS«  a  leader,  than  a  thoimand. 


153 

Isaiah's  attention  is  first  engaged  by  the  continental  res- 
toration of  the  ten  tribes^  which,  though  second  m  point 
of  time  to  the  restoration  ofJudah,  will  most  probably  be 
first  in  point  of  numbers  and  consequence.     While  he 
beholds  the  nations  bringing  back  his  brethren  of  the 
house  of  Ephraim  on  camels  and  on  dromedaries,  the 
scene  changes,  and  a  fresh  vision  is  suddenly  presented  to 
his  imagination.     A  multitude,  the  converted  of  Judah, 
appear  to  come  like  doves,  rapidly  flying  upon  the  wings 
of  the  wind  ;  and  these,  though  last  introduced  into  the 
present  prediction,  will  nevertheless  be  restored,  as  we 
may  collect  from  other  prophecies,  before  the  remnant  of 
the  ten  tribes.     From  the  far  distant  isles  of  the  west,  the 
maritime  regions  of  Europe,  the  prophet  beholds  the 
ships  of  Tarshish,  the  navy  of  that  power  which  at  the 
period  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecy  may  be 
considered  as  the  modern  Tyre,  securely  bringing  over 
the  waves  of  the  ocean  the  converts  of  Judah  as  an  offer- 
ing to  the  name  of  the  Lord  their  God. 

Having  thus  foretold,  that  the  whole  house  of  Israel 
shall  surely  be  restored,  at  two  different  seasons,  b}^ 
land  and  by  sea ;  and  having  declaimed,  that  the  then  pre- 
vailing maritime poxver  shall  be  among  the  first  to  under- 
take the  restoration  of  the  converted  members  of  the  house 
of  Judah  *  :  Isaiah  triumphantly  enlarges  on  the  future 
glories  of  his  people  and  the  sacred  happiness  of  the  mil- 
lennium,  intermingling  however  with  his  song  of  victory 
an  allusion  to  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist  and  the  utter 
extinction  of  his  abominable  tyranny. 


PROPHECY  XIV. 

The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Judah — The  triumph  of  Christ 
over  the  mystic  Edom. 

Isaiah  Ixii.   1  f.     For  Zion's  sake  will  I  not  hold  my 
peace,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake  I  will  not  rest,  until  the 

*  The  restoration  of  the  unconverted  of  yiidah  is  not  here  noticed.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  -will  nearly,  if  not  altogether,  sjmchronize  with  the 
restoration  of  the  converted  of  Judah,  and  that  it  will  be  effected  by  land  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  Antichristian  faction,  previous  to  the  subsequent 
i-estoration  also  by  land  of  the  remains  of  the  ten  tribes. 

\  Chap.  Ixii.]  "  The  former  promiees  of  restoring  the  Jewish  Church  and 

20 


154 

fighteousne^s  thereof  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  the  sal 
ration  thereof  as  a  lamp  that  burneth.  2.  And  the 
Gentiles  shall  see  thy  righteousness,  and  all  kings  thy 
gloiy :  and  thou  shalt  be  called  by  a  new  name,  Avhich  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord  shall  name.  3.  Thou  shalt  also  be  a 
crown  of  glory  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  a  royal  dia- 
dem in  the  hand  of  thy  God.  4.  Thou  shalt  no  more  be 
termed  Forsaken ;  neither  shall  thy  land  any  more  be 
termed  Desolate:  but  thou  shalt  be  called  My-delight-is- 
in-her;  and  thy  land,  The-married-one;  for  the  Lord  de- 
lighteth  in  thee,  and  thy  land  shall  be  married.  5.  For, 
as  a  young  man  marrieth  a  virgin,  so  shall  they,  that  build 
thee  up,  marry  thee* ;  and,  as  the  bridegroom  rejoiceth 
over  the  bride,  so  shall  thy  God  rejoice  o\  er  thee.  6.  I 
have  set  watchmen  upon  thy  walls,  O  Jerusalem ;  they 
shall  not  hold  their  peace  day  nor  night :  ye,  that  make 
mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence:  7.  And  give  him 
no  rest  till  he  establish,  and  till  he  make  Jerusalem  a 
praise  in  the  earth.  8.  The  Lord  hath  sworn  by  his  right 
hand,  and  by  the  arm  of  his  strength.  Surely  I  will  no 
more  give  thy  corn  to  be  meat  for  thine  enemies ;  and  the 
sons  of  the  stranger  shall  not  drink  thy  wine  for  which 
thou  hast  laboured :  9.  But  they,  that  have  gathered  it, 
sliall  eat  it,  and  praise  the  Lord ;  and  they,  that  have 
brought  it  together,  shall  drink  it  in  the  courts  of  my  ho- 
liness.    10.  Go  through,  go  through  the  gates :  prepare 

nation  are  again  cqniirmefl  by  a  solemn  oatli  of  God's  (vcr.  8.)  ;  which  to  me 
is  an  evident  proof,  tliat  this  prophecy  relates  to  a  scene  of  affairs  that  is  still 
future."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

*  So  shall  they,  that  build  thee  up,  viarry  thee.']  I  prefer  this  translation  te 
that  of  our  English  version.  That  the  ffcirew  church  should  be  married  to  her 
sojis,  seems  to  convey  an  idea  neither  very  intelligible,  nor  elsewhere  war- 
ranted in  Scripture.  Jeremiah  represents  the  Lord  as  calling- unto  f/i€  backslid- 
ing sons  nf  Israel,  and  as  being  married  to  thein  (Jerem.  iii.  14.)  ;  but  1  know 
not  that  the  church  is  ever  said  to  be  married  to  her  oven  sons.  In  addition  t© 
this  remark  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  well  known  antithesis  of  the  He- 
brew  poetry  requires  the  first  half  of  the  verse  to  answer  to  the  second  :  the 
persons  therefore,  that  marry  the  church  of  Israel,  must  answer  to  her  God  that 
rejoiceth  over  her.  Such  being  the  case,  I  apprehend  that  the  builders  up  of 
Zion  are  the  Lord  God  almighty,  the  Holy  and  Undivided  Trinity.  It  is  super- 
fluous to  remind  the  Hebrew  student  of  the  frequency  of  this  plural  phraseo- 
logy :  but  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  English  reader  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
remark,  that,  what  he  has  been  accustomed  to  see  translated.  Remember  thy 
Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth  (Eccles.  xli.  1.),  stands  in  the  original,  Remem- 
ber thy  Creators.  These  Creators,  the  all-powerful  Elohim  of  Israel,  are  they, 
who  will  build  up  the  walls  of  Zion,  and  be  the  husband  of  his  people  Israel.^ 
See  Bp.  Lowth  in  loc.  and  conipare  hh  note  on  Isaiah  xUx.  17. 


155 

ye  the  way  of  the  people  *  :  cast  up,  cast  up  the  highway: 
gather  from  the  stones :  Uft  up  a  banner  for  the  nations. 
11.  Behold,  the  Lord  hath  proclaimed  unto  the  end  of  the 
world  t J  Say  ye  to  the  daughter  of  Zion,  Behold,  ihy  Sa- 
viour Cometh  J;  behold,  his  reward  is  with  him,  and  his 
work  before  him.  12.  And  they  shall  call  them  The- 
holy-people,  The-redeemed-of-the-Lord;  and  thou  shalt 
be  called  Sought-out,  A-city-not-forsaken. 

Ixiii.  §  1.  Isaiah.  Who  is  this  that  cometh  from 
Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah^I  ?  This  that  is 
glorious  in  his  apparel,  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his 
strength  ? 

Messiah.  I  that  speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to 
save. 

2.  Isaiah.  Wherefore  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel, 
and  th}^  garments  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine-fat  ? 

3.  Messiah.  I  have  trodden  the  wine -press  alone; 
and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  me :  and  I  have 
trodden  them  down  in  mine  anger,  and  I  have  trampled 
them  in  my  fury ;  and  their  blood  is  sprinkled  upon  my 
garments,  and  I  have  stained  all  my  raiment.  4.  For 
the  day  of  vengeance  is  in  mine  heart,  and  the  year  of  my 

*  Prepare  ye  the  ivay  of  the  people.']  "  The  prophet,  relying  upon  God's  oath 
(ver.  8.),  speaks  of  the  general  restoration  of  the  yenus,  as  if  it  were  actually  a 
doing ;  and  exhorts  those  nations,  through  whose  territories  they  were  to 
pass  in  their  return  homeward,  to  go  out  of  their  cities  and  repair  the  roads, 
raising  causeways  in  the  lower  grounds,  and  levelling  the  rough  and  stony 
places.  By  this  figure  the  prophet  signifies  a  remov:al  of  all  obstacles  which 
might  hinder  their  return."     Sir.  Lowth  in  loc. 

•{•  The  Lord  hath  proclaimed  unto  the  end  of  the  iMorld.]  "  He  hath  caused 
the  great  trumpet  to  sound  as  a  signal  to  gather  the  dispersed  Jeius  together 
(see  note  on  Chap,  xxvii.  13.;)  or  he  hath  sent  preachers  of  tlie  Gospel  to  all 
parts  of  the  world,  in  order  to  the  conversion  of  the  ^ews."  Mr.  Lowth 
in  loc. 

+  Behold,  thy  Saviour  cometh.']  Such  I  conceive  to  be  tlie  proper  transla« 
tlon  of  the  passage,  not  thy  salvation  cometh  .  the  whole  context  shews, 
that  a  person,  not  a  thing,  is  spoken  of.  Accordingly  it  is  so  rendered  by  the 
lxx,  the  Vulgate,  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase,  the  Syriac,  and  the  Arabic.  See 
Bp.  Lowth  in  loc.     Compare  the  whole  of  this  verse  with  Isaiah  xl.  10. 

§  Chap.  Ixiii.]  "  Now  the  prophet  comes  to  describe  the  day  of  vengeance. 
The  beginning  of  the  chapter  is  by  way  of  dialogue  between  the  prophet  and 
Christ,  where  the  latter  is  described  as  returning  in  triumph  from  the  slaugh- 
ter of  his  enemies,  which  seems  to  be  much  the  same  scene  which  was  re-^ 
presented  chap,  xxxiv.    See  likewise  Joel  iii.  12,  13,  14."     Mr,  Lowth  in  loc. 

11  Edom — Bozrah.]  "  The  prophet  seems  to  take  a  hint  from  some  re- 
markable calamity  that  befell  the  EdoTuites,  to  describe  some  more  general 
judgment,  that  should  be  inflicted  upon  the  enemies  of  God's  Church  and 
truth."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


156 

redeemed  is  come.  5.  And  I  looked,  and  there  was 
none  to  help ;  and  I  wondered  that  there  was  none  to  up- 
hold: therefore  mine  own  arm  brought  salvation  unto 
me;  and  my  fury,  it  upheld  me.  6.  And  I  trod  *  down 
the  people  in  mine  anger,  and  made  them  drunk  in  my 
fury,  and  I  brought  down  their  strength  to  the  earth. 

7.  Isaiah.  I  will  mention  the  loving  kindnesses  of 
the  Lord  and  the  praises  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all 
that  the  Lord  hath  bestowed  on  us,  and  the  great  good- 
ness toward  the  house  of  Israel,  which  he  hath  bestowed 
on  them,  according  to  his  mercies,  and  according  to  the 
multitude  of  his  loving  kindnesses — 17.  O  Lord,  why 
hast  thou  made  us  t  to  err  from  thy  ways,  and  haidened 
our  heart  from  thy  fear  ?  Bring  back,  for  thy  servants 
sake,  the  tribes  of  thine  inheritance  J.  18.  It  is  little, 
that  they  have  taken  possession  of  thy  holy  mountain ; 
that  our  adversaries  have  trodden  down  thy  sanctuary. 
19.  We  have  been  from  old  time  as  those  whom  thou 
didst  not  bear  rule  over ;  who  have  not  been  called  by 
thy  name  §. 

co:mmentary. 

In  this  most  august  prophecy,  Isaiah,  having  fully  pre- 
dicted the  restoration  of  Israel^  introduces  the  Lord  as 
proclaiming  to  the  daughter  of  Zion  the  advent  of  her 
Saviour. 

Suddenly,  and  almost  ere  the  proclamation  has  been 
made,  a  new  and  awful  vision  bursts  upon  his  sight.  He 

*  /  trod^  "  Both  tlie  lxx  and  the  Vulgar  Latin  translate  this  and  the  fol- 
lowing sentences  of  this  verse  in  the  prxterperfect  tense,  which  agrees  bet- 
ter with  the  context,  where  Clirist  is  described  as  having  his  garments  al- 
ready  stained  with  blood  !"     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

•j-  Wliy  hast  thou  made  us  ?'}  "  The  vi'ords  might  better  have  been  render- 
ed, nuliy  hast  thou  suffered  us  ?  for  the  form,  called  ^^/y^/zzY  in  Hebrew,  often 
denotes  only  permission,  and  is  rendered  elsewhere  to  that  sense  by  our 
translators."     Mr  I.,owth  in  loc. 

^  Bring  back,  for  thy  servants  sake,  the  tribes  of  thine  inheritance."'^  "  That 
is.  Turn  their  captivity  for  the  sake  of  thy  servants  Abraham  and  Israel  (ver. 
16.).  to  whom  thoQ  madest  the  promises."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

§  Who  have  not  been  called  by  thy  na7ne.'\  "Thou  hast  rejected  us  altoge- 
ther, and  dost  disregard  us,  as  if  we  had  never  had  any  relation  to  thee,  nor 
ever  were  called  thy  people  :  which  sense  agrees  very  well  with  the  present 
condition  of  the  Jewish  nation,  which  hath  continued  for  many  ages  without 
king  or  prince  or  sacrifice,  as  the  prophet  Hosea  foretold.  Hos.  iii.  4."  Mr. 
liowth  in  loci 


157 

beholds  the  Messiah  returnhig  from  the  conquest  of  his 
enemies,  from  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist.  His  gar- 
ments are  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  symbolical  vin- 
tage ;  for  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart,  the  year  of 
his  redeemed  is  come.  Struck  with  astonishment,  the  pro- 
phet inquires  who  this  mighty  conqueror  can  be.  The 
Lord  answers.  It  is  I  that  speak  in  righteousness^  I  that  ajji 
might?/  to  save.  Yet  more  astonished  at  this  declaration, 
Isaiah  again  asks,  IVhi/  then  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel  ? 
If  thy  office  he  salvation^  why  do  I  behold  thee  sprinkled 
Tvith  bloody  and  zvet  7vith  slaughter,  so  that  thou  art  like 
him  that  treadetJi  in  the  wine-fat  ?  Christ  replies,  The 
blood,  which  thou  beholdest,  is  the  blood  of  my  irreclaim- 
able enemies;  the  blood  of  those,  who  have  dared  to  assault 
thy  people  even  in  the  midst  of  their  heaven-appointed  re- 
storation. Elate  with  short-lived  success,  exulting  in 
having  planted  their  tabernacles  between  the  seas  in  the 
glorious  holy  mountain,  flushed  with  the  pride  of  uncon- 
trolled victory.  Antichrist  and  his  associates  have  at  length 
madly  rushed  upon  their  fate,  and  tempted  the  Most  High 
to  bring  upon  them  swift  destruction.  Alone  I  trod  the 
wine-press;  for  this  hath  been  no  mortal  warfare.  When 
ruin  stared  my  people  in  the  face,  when  their  foes  had 
overflowed  and  passed  over,  when  they  had  entered  into 
the  glorious  land,  when  many  countries  had  been  over- 
thrown, when  all  human  aid  was  vain:  then  did  I,  the 
Lord,  stand  forth,  and  arise  in  my  fury.  There  was 
none  to  help,  there  zvas  none  to  uphold.  Therefore  mine 
own  arm  brought  salvation  unto  me;  in  mine  own  strength 
I  trod  down  the  people.  I  made  them  drunk  i?i  my  fury  ^ 
they  came  to  their  end,  and  there  was  none  to  help  them. 

Thus  divinely  instructed  in  the  nature  of  the  terrific 
vision,  the  prophet  humbly  gives  thanks  unto  the  Lord 
for  his  goodness,  and  acknowledges  his  eternal  justice 
and  truth.  Though  the  adversaries  have  for  a  time  trod- 
den down  his  sanctuary,  yet  God  was  never  their  God. 
But  the  tribes  of  Israel  are  still  the  Lord's,  although  they 
have  long  been  removed  from  the  land  of  their  inheritance, 
and  have  been  scattered  among  the  nations. 

That  this  vision  of  the  Messiah  relates  to  the  last  daySy 
and  to  his  second  advent,  is,  I  think,  manifest  both  from 


158 

its  immediate  connexion  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews^ 
and  from  the  description  being  applicable  to  no  part  of 
his  ministry  during  the  period  of  his  Jirst  advent  *. 
Theuy  as  Isaiah  elsewhere  predicts,  he  was  despised  and 
rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with 
grief:  now  he  appears  as  a  mighty  conqueror,  sprinkled 
with  the  blood  of  his  prostrate  enemies.  Theyi  he  was 
oppressed,  he  was  afflicted,  he  opened  not  his  mouth ; 
he  was  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter;  he  was  taken 
from  prison  and  from  judgment;  he  was  cut  off  out  of 
the  land  of  the  living;  he  was  slain;  he  Avas  buried:  now 
he  victoriously  treads  the  wine-press  of  his  indignation ; 
he  tramples  upon  the  people  in  his  anger;  the  day  of  ven- 
geance is  in  his  heart ;  he  is  glorious  in  his  apparel ;  he 
travels  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength.  Two  such  entirely 
different  descriptions  must  either  relate  to  two  entirely 
different  persons,  or  to  the  same  ^^erson  at  two  entirely 
different  periods.  That  they  both  however  equally  re- 
late to  the  Messiah,  is  universally  allowed.  They  must 
therefore  relate  to  him  at  the  two  different  periods  of  his 
Jirst  and  seco7id  advent.  Accordingly,  as  I  have  just 
observed,  we  find  the  present  description  immediately 
connected  with  the  restoration  of  Israel:  whence  it  will 
follow,  that  it  relates  to  some  yet  future  manifestation  of 
the  Messiah.  ' 

But  it  may  be  asked.  Why  is  he  then  represented  as 
coming  from  Edom  and  from  Bozrah  ?  I  answer  :  As  the 
ships  of  Tarshish^  when  connected  with  the  restoration  of 
the  Jeivs,  mean  not  literal  Ti/7'ian  vessels^  b«t  the  navy  of 
some  great  maritime  people,  some  modern  Tyre :  so  Edom^ 
when  similarly  connected,  means,  not  the  literal  Edom, 
but  some  profane  enemy  of  God  and  his  people,  who  is  to 
be  revealed  in  the  last  days.  This  enemy,  as  we  learn 
from  other  collateral  prophecies,  will  be  a  mighty  power 
within  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire,  which  shall  either 
be  the  ten  horned  beast  himself  under  his  last  head,  or  a 
notoriously  infidel  state  united  xvith  that  last  head.     The 

*  See  Bp.  Lowth  in  loc.  who  rightly  refers  this  prophecy  to  the  last  days, 
though  I  cannot  think  that  it  has  any  relation  to  the  overthrow  of  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog mentioned  by  Ezekiel  and  St.  John.  It  plainly  describes  the  same  events, 
as  those  foretold  in  Rev.  xix.  to  them  accordingly  the  father  of  that  eminent 
prelate  supposes  it  to  allude.  S^e  Mr.  Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  lxiii.2, 3 . 


159 

rise  of  such  an  infidel  state  we  have  beheld  even  in  our 
own  days,  and  we  have  yet  more  recently  seen  it  identifi- 
ed with  the  last  head.  Even  now  the  predicted  confede- 
racy of  this  formidable  power  ^  of  the  false  Romish  prophet, 
and  of  the  vassal  kings  of  the  Latin  earth,  the  confedera- 
cy of  which  Edom  is  here  used  as  a  type,  is  forming  with 
a  wonderful  degree  of  rapidity  ;  and  every  passing  event 
seems  to  be  preparing  the  way  for  some  awful  crisis. 
From  the  overthrow  of  this  confederacy  at  the  time  of  the 
restoration  of  the  Jexvs,  a  time  of  trouble  such  as  never 
was  since  there  was  a  nation,  Isaiah  beholds  the  Messiah 
triumphantly  returning. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  learned  among  the  Jews 
have  ever  considered  Edom  as  a  type  of  Rome:  whence 
they  interpret  those  prophecies,  which  foretell  some  fu- 
ture calamities  about  to  befall  Edom,  as  relating,  not  to 
the  literal  Edom,  but  to  his  antitype  Rome  ;  or,  as  they 
might  more  accurately  have  expressed  themselves,  to  the 
Roman  empire ;  for  Edom  being  a  kingdom,  his  antitype 
must  be  a  kingdom  likewise.     Thus  R.  Kimchi  asserts, 
that  "  Whatever  the  prophets  have  spoken  of  the  des- 
truction of  Edom  in  the  last  times,  they  have  spoken  con- 
cerning Ro?ne  ;  "  and  that,    "  When  Rome  shall  be  laid 
waste,  there  shall  be  redemption  to  Israel.''''     The  same 
commentator  applies  the  34<th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  which 
like  the  prophecy  now  under  consideration  literally  treats 
of  the  desolation  of  Edom  and  the  Lord'' s  sacrifice  in  Boz^ 
rah,  to  the  downfal  of  Rome  ;  and  cites  with  marks  of 
approbation  the  Chaldee  exposition  of  the   9th  verse, 
"  The  streams  of  Rome  shall  be  changed  into  pitch."    It 
is  sufficiently  evident  indeed,  that  the  two  predictions 
are  so  entirely  parallel  to  each  other,  that  they  must  both 
relate  to  the  same  events.      The  S4^th  and  35th  chapters 
compose  one  prophecy,  as  the  62d  and  63d  compose 
another.     They  both  equally  treat  of  the  restoration  of 
Judah,  and  the  downfal  of  the  Antichristian  Roman  confe- 
deracy under  the  mystical  name  of  Edom.     The  only 
difference  between  them  is,  that  in  the  one  the  overthrow  of 
Antichrist  is  first  mentioned,  and  in  the  other  the  restora- 
tion of  Judah.     R.  Kimchi  applies,  in  a  similai'  maimer, 
the  ^vhole  24i/j  chapter  of  Isaiah  to  the  destruction  of 


160 

Edom  and  the  return  of  Israel,  declaring  it  to  be  a  pro- 
phecy yet  unaccomplished;  and  what  he  understands  by 
Edom  he  shews  by  his  commentary  on  the  I6th  verse: 
"  Whoever  inquires  into  the  destruction  of  Home,  let  him 
diligently  examine  the  whole  book  of  the  Lord."  Both 
he,  and  R.  Solomon  Jarchi,  use  exactly  the  same  language 
(with  what  propriety  in  the  present  case  I  shall  not  stop 
to  inquire),  when  paraphrasing  the  11th  verse  of  the  21st 
chapter  of  Isaiah.  "  The  burden  of  Dumah,  which  is 
Edom,'*''  says  R.  Jarchi :  "  The  burden  of  Rome,''''  says 
R.  Kimchi  ^.  The  Targum  on  the  22d  verse  of  the  Ath 
chapter  of  Lamentations  is  composed  on  precisely  the 
same  principle  of  mystic  interpretation  :  "  And,  after 
thine  iniquity  shall  be  accomplished,  O  congregation  of 
Zion,  thou  shalt  be  delivered  by  the  hand  of  Messiali 
and  Elias  the  high-priest ; '  and  the  Lord  shall  no  more 
cause  thee  to  migrate  into  other  countries :  and  in  that 
time  I  will  visit  thine  iniquity,  O  Rome,  which  art  built 
in  Italy,  and  art  full  of  the  troops  of  the  sons  of  Edom^  In 
fine  R.  Abraham  Sebah,  commenting  on  the  1st  chap- 
ter of  Genesis,  says,  that,  "  While  the  sixth  millenary  of 
the  world  is  running  out  and  drawing  near  to  a  close, 
Rome  shall  be  destroyed,  and  the  Jews  shall  return  from 
their  dispersion  t»" 

In  thus  closely  connecting  together  the  downfal  of  the 
Roman  Antichristian  faction  and  the  restoration  of  Jiidah, 
the  Hebrew  doctors  seem  to  me  to  be  perfectly  right :  an 
attentive  perusal  of  the  ancient  Scriptures,  not  to  men- 
tion those  of  the  New  Testament,  must  unavoidably 
lead  every  person  to  the  same  conclusion.  Such  prophe- 
cies, as  are  unchronological,  rarely  foretell  the  return  of 
the  Jexvs  without  declaring,  that  at  the  very  same  season 
there  shall  be  a  tremendous  overthrow  of  God^s  enemies. 
These  enemies  they  sometimes  describe  as  a  great  con- 
federacy of  many  nations :  at  other  times  they  designate 
them  by  the  general  name  of  Edom.     What  then  are  we 

*  It  is  not  improbable,  tliat  this  g'loss  might  have  been  founded  on  the  cir- 
cumstance of  their  reading  i?&?rt(7/i  rnnn),  instead  of  Z>!/mfl/i  (nnn).  The 
difference  between  the  R  (i),  and  the  D  (j^),  is  so  trifling,  that  one  might 
easily  have  been  substituted  for  the  other. 

t  See  Mede's  Works,  B.  v.  Chap.  viii.  p.  902,  903  ;  whence  tliese  remarks 
are  taken. 


161 

to  understand  by  the  power  oy  powers  termed  Edom  at  the 
yet  future  period  of  the  restoration  of  Israel?  This  wc 
are  abundantly  taught,  in  a  manner  that  can  scarcely  be 
misunderstood,  by  the  two  chronological  prophets  Da- 
niel and  St.  John.  At  the  close  of  a  certain  grand  period, 
indifferently  styled  three  times  or  three  years  a?id  a  half', 
42  months,  and  1260  days,  all  which  equally  mean  1260 
natural  years,  the  last  or  Boman  beast  and  his  little  ty- 
rannical horn  are  to  begin  to  be  destroyed  *^.  At  the 
close  of  the  very  same  period,  the  power  of  the  Jews  is 
to  cease  to  be  scattered ;  or,  in  other  words,  is  to  begin 
to  be  restored '[.  At  this  time  likewise  a  poxver,  noted 
for  atheism,  infidelity,  and  tyranny ;  a  power,  which 
should  s])ring  up  after  the  era  of  the  reformation ;  is  to 
come  to  its  end,  none  being  able  to  help  it,  after  having 
first  invaded  Palestine,  and  taken  Jerusalem:|:.  And,  at  the 
close  of  these  same  1260  years,  St.  John  declares,  that 
the  great  Roman  beast  under  his  last  head,  his  colleague 
the  false  Romish  prophet  or  tJie  two-horned  beast  (which 
answer  to  the  ten-horned  beast  and  the  little  horn  of  Da- 
niel), and  his  confederates  the  vassal  kings  of  the  Latin 
empire,  shall  be  totally  overthrown  by  the  Word  of  God 
at  Megiddo  in  Palestine ;  and  that  the  wine-press  shall  be 
trodden  in  a  country  1600  fin^longs  in  length,  which  is 
the  precise  measure  of  the  Holy  Land  \,  Now,  since 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews  is  to  commence  at  the  end  of 
the  1260  years;  and  since  the  unspeakable  time  of  trou- 
ble, during  which  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  head, 
the  atheistical  king,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  confedera- 
ted Latin  sovereigns,  will  be  overthrown,  is  to  be  con- 
temporary with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews:  since  like- 
wise, whenever  the  Jews  are  restored,  a  confederacy  of 
God'^s  enemies,  more  than  once  mystically  denominated 
Edom,  is  to  be  utterly  broken  by  the  victorious  Messiah 
at  his  second  advent :  it  will  necessarily  follow,  that  what 
Isaiah  terms  Edom  must  be  the  confederacy  of  the  ten- 
horned  beast,  the  little  horn,  and  the  atheistical  king: 
that  is  to  say,  the  mystic  Edom  must  be,  what  the  He- 
brew doctors  have  rightly  judged  him  to  be,  some  grand 

•  Dan.  vli.  11,  25,  26.  t  Dan.  xii.  6,  7. 

i^  Dan.  xj.  35—45.  xii.  1—7-  §  Kev.  xiii.  5.  xix.  II— ^l.^iV.  17—2Ci\ 

21 


:  162 

confederacy  formed,  during  the  last  days,  within  the  li- 
mits of  the  Roman  empire.  And  at  this  conclusion,  they 
might  most  assuredly  amve  merely  by  comparing  to- 
gether different  parts  of  their  own  Scriptures.  St.  John 
indeed  both  confirms  the  conclusion,  and  throws  a  yet 
stronger  light  on  the  subject:  but  the  conclusion  itself 
might  have  been  equally  drawn,  had  St.  John  never 
written  the  Apocalypse :  and  accordingly  we  find  that 
it  actually  has  been  drawn,  not  merely  by  Christian, 
but  by  Jewish,  commentators.  On  the  whole,  we  may 
safely  venture  to  assert,  that  the  vintage,  described  by 
Isaiah,  is  the  same  as  the  vintage  predicted  both  by  Joel 
and  St.  John :  they  equally  relate  to  the  overthrow  of 
Antichrist  and  his  associates. 

I  would  not  willingly  be  thought  too  refined  and  fan- 
ciful in  w  hat  I  am  about  to  observe ;  yet,  when  we  re- 
collect the  almost  innumerable  instances  throughout  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  wherein  proper  names  are  chosen  with 
a  manifest  allusion  to  their  signification,  it  is  not  impos- 
sible that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  designed  even  the  literal 
import  of  the  names  Edom  and  Boz?-a  not  to  be  over- 
looked. Edo7n  then  signifies  red;  and  Bozra  is  the  near- 
est proper  name  that  could  have  been  found  to  the  He- 
brew word  that  denotes  a  vintage  *.  Hence,  in  apparent 
allusion  to  the  terms  Edom  and  Bozra,  our  Lord  is  de- 
scribed as  being  red  in  his  apparel,  and  as  having  his 
garments  stained  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine-fat. 
This  however  may  not  be  the  whole  that  is  mystically  in- 
tended by  these  names.  As  the  apocalyptic  dragon  is 
said  to  be  of  a  red  colour,  and  to  have  seven  heads  and 
ten  horns,  because  he  acts  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  Roman  beast  whose  distinguishing  colour  whether 
pagan  or  papal  hath  always  been  red;  and  as  the  great 
whore  is  represented  as  being  arrayed  in  purple  and 
scarlet:  so  may  the  Roman  confederacy  of  the  last  days, 
consisting  (as  we  are  plainly  taught  it  shall  consist)  oithe 
beast  under  his  last  or  Carlovingian  head,  and  his  colleague 
the  false  prophet  or  papal  horn,  be  denominated  by  the 
prophet  Edom  or  red,  not  without  a  hidden  reference  to 
the  same  colour.     In  this  case  we  may  suppose  Isaiah  to 

•  Botsra  (mxa)  contains  the  same  fundamental  letters,  and  springs  ivont. 
the  same  root,  as  Bot-sir  (t33)  a  vintage, 


163 

ask,  "  Who  is  he  that  cometh  from  the  scarlet  confede- 
7'acy  of  Antichrist^  with  dyed  garments  from  the  vintage 
of  his  wrath?  Wherefore  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel, 
and  thy  garments  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine-fat?" 
To  which  the  Lord  answers,  "  I  have  trodden  the  wine- 
press alone :  the  tyranny,  however  diversified,  whose  pe- 
culiar badge  is  scarlet^  hath  long  trampled  upon  my 
church,  hath  been  drunken  with  the  blood  of  my  saints, 
and  hath  at  length  in  one  of  its  principal  members  openly 
defied  me  to  my  face :  but  now  my  garments  are  sprink- 
led with  the  blood  of  the  Roman  beast,  and  the  false  pro- 
phet; /now,  m  my  turn,  am  red  in  mine  apparel;  as 
my  enemies  have  shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets, 
I  have  given  them  their  own  blood  to  drink,  for  they 
are  worthy." 

Whether  the  reader  approve  or  disapprove  of  this  con- 
jecture *,  is  of  little  consequence,  so  far  as  the  main  po- 
sition is  concerned.  That,  which  was  previously  said, 
is  alone  considered  as  the  argument,  by  Avhich  the  Roma?} 
Antichristian  confederacy  of  the  last  days  is  shewn  to  be 
the  mystical  Edom  f>/*Isaiah« 


PROPHECY  XV. 

The  call  of  the  Jews — The  mystic  birth  of  the  Jewish  nation-  A 
description  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy — Its  overthrow — The 
scattering  of  such  as  escape — 'The  restoration  of  the  converted 
ten  tribes — The  glories  of  the  Millennium. 

Isaiah  Ixvi.  5.  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye  that 
tremble  at  his  word;  Your  brethren,  that  hated  you, 
that  cast  you  out  for  my  name's  sake,  said,  Let  the  Lord 
be  glorified:  but  he  shall  appear  to  your  joy,  and  they 
shall  be  ashamed.  6.  A  voice  of  noise  from  the  city,  a 
voice  from  the  temple,  a  voice  of  the  Lord  that  rendereth 
recompense  to  his  enemies*  7.  Before  she  travailed,  she 
brought  forth;  before  her  pain  came,  she  was  delivered 
of  a  man-child.  8.  Who  hath  heard  such  a  thing?  who 
hath  seen  such  things?  shall  a  country  be  brought  forth 

*  The  reader  will  find  some  remarks  not  very  dissittiilar  to  thi$  COPJectUt© 
in  Mr.  Lowth's  Commept.  on  Is^ah  xxxiv.  5.  and,  kuii.  1. 


164 

in  one  day,  or  shall  a  nation  be  born  at  once  ?  for,  as- 
soon  as  Zion  travailed,  she  brought  forth  her  children. 
9.  Shall  I  bring  to  the  birth,  and  not  cause  to  bring 
forth?  saith  the  Lord:  shall  I  cause  to  bring  forth, 
and  shut  the  womb?  saith  thy  God.  10.  Rejoice  ye 
with  Jerusalem,  and  be  glad  with  her,  all  ye  that  love 
her:  rejoice  for  joy  with  her,  all  ye  that  mourn  for  her: 
11.  That  ye  may  suck,  and  be  satisfied  with  the  breasts 
of  her  consolations ;  that  ye  may  milk  out  and  be  delight- 
ed with  the  abundance  of  her  glory.  12.  For  thus  saith 
the  I-ord,  Behold,  I  will  extend  peace  to  her  like  a  river, 
and  the  glory  of  the  Gentiles  like  a  flowing  stream :  then 
shall  ye  suck,  ye  shall  be  borne  upon  her  sides,  and  be 
dandled  upon  her  knees.  13.  As  one  whom  his  mother 
comforteth,  so  will  I  comfort  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  com- 
forted in  Jerusalem.  14.  And  ye  shall  behold,  and  your 
heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  bones  shall  flourish  like  a 
lierb  '^ :  and  the  hand  of  the  Lord  shall  be  known  toward 
his  servants,  and  his  indignation  toward  his  enemies. 

15.  For  behold,  the  Lord  will  come  with  firef,  and 
his  chariots  like  a  whirlwind,  to  bring  back  his  people  in 
the  fury  of  his  anger,  for  his  rebuke  is  \y\Xh.  flames  of  fire. 
16.  For  by  fire  the  Lord  will  contend  in  judgment,  and 
by  his  sword  with  all  flesh :  and  many  shall  be  the  slain 
of  the  Lord  1 .  17.  They,  that  sanctify  and  purify  them- 
selves in  the  gardens  §  after  the  rites  of  Achad  T[,  in  the 

*  Tour  bones  shall  jlourish  lihc  a  herb.'\  "  Yon  ^eivs  shall  reco%'er  your  an-■ 
clcnt  strength  and  beauty,  and  be  renewed  hi  as  wonderful  a  manner,  as  it' 
dry  withered  bones  sliould  recover  their  youth  and  moisture,  or  as  if  tiie 
dead  bones  in  a  charncl  house  should  have  life  and  vigour  infused  intotliem. 
See  Ezek.  xxxvii.  and  Rom.  xi.  15."     Mr.  Lowtli  in  loc. 

f  Behold,  the  Lord  ivill  covie  luith  fire — to  bring  back  his  people."]  This  cor- 
responds with  tlie  declaration  of  Daniel,  tliat  Judah  will  be  restored  during- 
a  season  of  unexampled  trouble  (See  Dan.  sii.  1.).  It  is  proper  however  to 
observe,  that  Bp.Lowth  translates  tlie  passage,  To  breathe  forth  his  anger  in 
a  burning  heat ;  supposing  that  2''ffi'nS  does  not  here  signify  to  render  or  to  bring 
b'ack,  but  to  breathe,  from  aipj. 

i  Many  shall  be  the  slain  of  the  Lord.']  "  This  may  be  understood  of  tlie 
battle  of  Armageddon  (Rev.  xvi.  14.  xix.  19.),  where  the  armies  of  Satan  and 
y/;!f/c/ir/f?  are  to  be  vunquisiied  by  the  Lamb  and  his  followers — The  Scrip- 
tures do.  in  genei'al  declare,  that  there  shall  be  a  great  desti'uction  of  Christ's 
enemies  here  upon  earth,  before  the  general  judgment  or  consummation  of 
all  things."     Mr  Lowth  in  loc. 

§  They,  that  sanctify  and pttKfy  themselves  in  the  gardens.]  An  allusion  to 
the  ancient  idolatrous  grove-worship,  so  repeatedly  stigmatized  in  the  Old 
Testament.     See  Mr.  Lowlh's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  i.  29 

IT  After  the  rites  of  Achad.]  Achad  or  Adad  was  the  chief  god  of  tlie  Syri- 
ans. (See  Mr.  Lowth  and  Bp.  Lowth  in  loc.)  He  appears  to  liave  been  the 
Sun.    His  name  signifies  One.     See  Selden  de  Dis  Syris  Synt.  1.  C  fi 


165 

midst  of  those  who  eat  swine's  flesh,  and  the  abomina- 
tion, and  the  mouse  *,  shall  be  consumed  together,  saith 
the  Lord.  18.  For  I  know  their  works  and  their  thoughts : 
and  I  come  to  gather  all  nations  and  tongues  together: 
and  they  shall  come,  and  see  my  glory. 

19.  And  I  will  set  a  sign  among  them,  and  I  will  send 
those  that  escape  of  them  unto  the  nations,  Tarshish,  Pal, 
and  Lud,  Mesech  [^skilled  in  the  bow]  f,  Tubal,  and  Ja- 
van,  and  distant  islands,  that  have  not  heard  my  fame, 
neither  have  seen  my  glory ;  and  they  shall  declare  my 
glory  among  the  Gentiles.     20.  And  they  shall  bring  all 
your  brethren  out  of  all  nations,  an  offering  unto  the  Lord, 
upon  horses,  and  in  chariots,  and  in  litters,  and  upon  mules, 
and  in  covered  vehicles,  to  my  holy  mountain  Jerusalem, 
saith  the  Lord,  as  the  children  of  Israel  bring  an  offering 
in  a  clean  vessel  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord.  21.  And  I 
will  also  take  of  them  for  priests  and  for  Levites,  saith 
the  Lord.     22.  For,  as  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth,  which  I  will  make,  shall  remain  before  me,  saith 
the  Lord,   so  shall  your  seed  and  your  name  remain. 
23.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new  moon 
to  another,  and  from  one  sabbath  to  another,  shall  all 
flesh  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the  Lord.  24.  And 
they  shall  go  forth,  and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men 
that  have  transgressed  against  me  :  for  their  worm  shall 
not  die  I,   neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched;  and  they 
shall  be  an  abhorring  unto  all  flesh. 

*  The  viouse.^  "Jamblichus  Syi'us,  in  Phot.  Cod.  94,  reckons  mice 
among  the  several  sorts  of  animals  by  which  the  heathens  practised  magic 
or. divination,  and  saitli,  tliat  some  derived  the  word  f^vo-'jij^to'i  from  jM-i;?." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

\  Mesech  skilled  in  the  boix.']  It  seems  evident,  that  ps-p  has  crept  into  U>e 
text  from  the  original  gloss  of  some  transcriber,  who  mistook  the  proper 
name  Mesech  for  a  participle,  and  therefore  pkiralized  it  in  his  note,  adding 
ncp  to  it  by  way  of  explanation.  The  word  ptyp  could  not  have  been  in  tlie 
copy,  which  the  lxx  used;  for  they  justly  consider  Mesech  to  be  a  proper 
name,  writing  it  Moirox,,  and  make  not  the  least  mention  of  any  bow.  3Ie~ 
sech  is  ordinarily  joined  with  Tubal,  precisely  as  we  ought  to  read  in  the  pre- 
sent passage  See  Ezek.  xxvii.  13.  xxxii.  26.  xxxviii.  2.  xxxis.  1.  See  also  Bp, 
Lowth  in  loc. 

4;  Their  iiionn  shall  not  die.'\  An  allusion  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  The 
wliole  conclusion  of  this  prophecy  is  couched  under  "images,  wliich  relate 
not  to  the  translation  of  the  just  to  heaven,  and  the  burning  of  the  ivicied  in  hell ; 
but  to  the  placing  of  the  faithful  in  a  state  of  peace  and  security  on  earth,  and  to 
the  excision  of  the  incorrigible  of  the  irreligious  faction"  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter 
on  the  18th  Chap,  of  Isaiah,  p.  97. 


166 


COMMENTARY 


Isaiah,  in  the  last  of  his  prophecies,  seems  as  it  were  to 
sum  up,  in  exact  chronological  order,  all  that  he  had  pre- 
viously said  relative  to  the  restoration  of  the  house  of  Isra- 
el. He  had  already  taught  us,  that  part  of  his  countrymen 
should  return  by  sea,  and  part  by  land :  that  those  who 
returned  by  sea,  namely  the  converted  of  Juclah^  should 
be  chiefly  brought  back  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  ships  of  Tarshish^  or  the  navy  of  the  then  principal 
maritime  European  power ^oi  the  then  modern  Tyre:  that 
Antichi'ist  a?id  his  associates,  who  will  contemporaneously 
restore  certain  members  of  the  house  ofJudah  in  an  uncon- 
verted state,  should  at  the  same  era  be  utterly  overthrown ; 
and  that  another  grand  division  of  Israel,  or  the  ten  tribes, 
should  be  brought  back  out  of  all  nations,  notwithstand- 
ing they  had  so  long  vanished,  as  it  were,  from  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  had  been  lost  in  the  countries  whither 
they  had  been  carried  away  captive.  He  now  repeats 
much  of  what  he  had  said  before,  adding  however  cer- 
tain other  particulars  which  ai'e  highly  interesting  and 
important. 

'He  begins  with  calling  upon  the  JewSy  who,  in  the 
midst  of  their  long  blindness,  had  never  ceased  to  vene- 
rate their  ancient  Scriptures,  to  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
This  word  declareth  to  them,  that  their  brethren  of  the 
Gentiles,  who,  through  a  succession  of  dark  and  bigoted 
ages,  had  hated  them,  and  had  cast  them  out,  from  a  pre- 
tended zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  as  if  persecution 
had  been  a  meritorious  act  of  faith,  should  now  have 
abundant  reason  to  fear  and  be  ashamed.  The  Gentiles, 
here  alluded  to,  are  manifestly  those  of  the  papal  apostasy, 
whose  descendants  at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  consti- 
tute the  great  Roman  confederacy  of  Antichrist.  The  va- 
rious persecutions,  which  the  Jews  have  suffered  through- 
out Europe  from  the  bloody  superstition  of  Popery,  arc 
well  known  * :  England  herself,  while  she  remained  in 
the  polluted  communion  of  Rome,  partook  largely,  as  of 
her  other  sins,  so  of  this.     Since  the  reformation,  the 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vii. 


167 

Jews  have  been  persecuted  only  in  Popish  countries :  to 
them  therefore  we  may  safely  apply  the  words  of  the  pre- 
sent prophecy  *. 

But,  when  the  Papacy  shall  have  filled  up  the  measure 
of  its  iniquities  by  leaguing  itself  with  Antichrist^  by 
sanctioning  all  his  enormities,  by  entering  into  a  con- 
federacy with  him,  by  proclaiming  (such  is  the  wretch- 
ed perversion  of  language)  a  holy  war  of  extermination 
against  the  converted  Jews  and  their  supporters  the  mighty 
maritime  protestant  nation;  then  shall  the  Lord  suddenly 
cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  from  his  holy  temple,  and 
shall  render  recompense  unto  his  enemies.  Under  the 
image  of  a  wofuan  travailing  and  bearing  a  man-child^  the 
prophet  sets  forth  the  unexpected  conversion  and  restora- 
tion ofJudah.  The  description  necessarily  implies,  that 
these  Gfreat  and  wonderful  events  will  be  almost  as  it  were 
instantaneous.  Ere  Zion  hath  well  begun  to  travail,  the 
time  of  her  delivery  is  come.  As  a  single  address  of  St. 
Peter  converted  three  thousand  of  the  Jews^  and  brought 
them  unto  God  the  first  fruits  of  their  people :  so  now  a 
yet  more  astonishing  thing  shall  happen;,  a  whole  nation 
shall  be  born  at  once.  It  is  no  objection  to  say,  IFho 
hath  heard  such  a  thing  ?  who  hath  seen  such  things  ? 
The  Lord  himself  affords  an  answer  by  asking.  Shall  I 
bring  to  the  birth^  and  not  cause  to  biing  forth  ?  Shall  1 
cause  to  bring  forth^  and  shut  the  womb  ?  From  the  whole 
passage  we  must  necessarily,  I  think,  conclude,  that  the 
conversion  of  Judah  will  be  sudden  as  that  of  St.  Paul^. 
general  as  that  of  the  congregation  of  St.  Peter  f. 

The  whole,  that  the  prophet  has  hitherto  said,  refers 
exclusively  to  the  conversion  of  one  great  branch  of  Judah 
and  to  the  restoration  of  that  branch  by  the  instrumentali- 
ty of  the  maratime  power;  an  event,  which  is  destined 
to  take  place  previous  to  the  no  less  remarkable  event  of 
the  conversion  arid  restoratioti  of  the  ten  tribes:  he  now-r 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vn.  la. 

y  I  may  however  here  again  observe,  that,  although  the  whole  of  Jtidak 
■will  be  restored  previously  to  Israel,  yet  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  he 
will  be  restored  partly  in  a  converted  and  partly  in  an  unconverted  state, 
partly  by  sea  and  partly  by  land,  partly  by  some  great  maritime  power,  and 
partly  by  Antichrist.  It  appears  that  the  conversion  of  both  these  branches  of 
yudah  will  be  so  sudden,  as  to  deserve  to  be  considered  (comparatively 
■speaking)  as  instantaneous. 


168- 

therefore,  preparatoiy  to  his  prediction  concerning  tJie 
second  of  these  events,  directs  our  attention  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  Jfitichristiaji  confcderacij.  He  declares,  that, 
at  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Judah,  the  Lord  will 
plead  with  all  flesh  by  fire  and  sword ;  and  that  great  shall 
be  the  slaughter  of  his  enemies.  The  criminality  of  these 
his  enemies  had  already  been  partly  described,  as  con- 
sisting in  a  persecution  of  the  Jews  under  the  pretext  of 
honouring  God:  it  is  now  further  represented  to  us  under 
images  drawn  from  the  ancient  history  of  Israel,  and  the 
prohibitions  of  the  Levitical  law.  Those  then,  who  com- 
pose the  Antichristian  confederacy^  will  be  persons  who 
imitate  the  idolatry  of  the  Gentiles,  worshipping  deified 
saints,  and  polluting  themselves  with  all  manner  of  abo- 
minations *.  Such  a  description  perfectly  accords  with 
the  character  of  those,  of  whom  we  are  taught  the  confe- 
deracy will  consist.  But  its  members,  in  the  midst  of 
their  audacious  attempt  to  oppose  the  counsels  of  the 
Lord,  shall  be  consumed  together :  and  God  remarkably 
declares,  that,  while  they  are  seeking  only  to  fulfil  their 
o^vn  diabolical  purposes  of  ambition  and  persecution,  he 
so  oveiTules  both  their  works  and  their  thoughts,  as  to 
make  them  instrumental  in  gathering  together  all  nations 
and  tongues,  that  they  may  come,  and  see  a  mai^vcllous 
display  of  his  glory. 

Still  however,  although  Judah  be  now  restored,  and 
although  Antichrist  be  overcome,  we  have  to  look  for  the 
return  of  Israel^  that  second  grand  division  of  God'' s  people, 
which  is  to  be  brought  back  by  land.  Here  then  the 
prophet  most  fully  declares  to  us  the  manner  of  their 
restoration.  After  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist^  such  as 
escape  the  tremendous  slaughter  of  Megiddo,  a  number 
amounting  (as  we  are  informed  by  Zechariahf)  to  a  third 

•  "The  prophet  mentions  only  such  idolatries  as  were  practised  in  and 
about  his  own  time  ;  but  yet  may  comprehend  imder  those  heads  all  other 
kinds  of  that  sin,  just  as  the  idolatries  practised  by  some  Christians  are  call- 
ed the  doctrines  of  Balaam  and  "Jezabel  (Rev.  ii.  14,  20.),  and  the  church 
where  they  were  practised  is  described  by  the  name  of  Sodom  and  Egypt 
(Rev.  xi.  8.).  And  the  Je'.vs  at  this  day  acknowledge  the  compliances  of  se- 
veral of  their  nation  with  the  Idolatries  practised  in  those  Popish  countries 
where  the  Inquisition  is  set  up,  as  one  of  their  national  sins.  See  Limborch's 
Arnica  collatio  cum,  Judao."  Mr.  Lowth's  Comment,  on  Isaiah  Ixv.  4.  to 
which  he  refers  us  from  Comment,  on  Isaiah  Ixvi.  17- 

+  Zechar.  xiii.  S,  9. 


169 

part  of  his  whole  host,  shall  be  converted  to  the  pure- 
faith  of  Christ;  and  shall  be  scattered  among  all  nations, 
in  order  that  they  may  carry  far  and  wide  the  astonish- 
ing tidings,  and  declare  the  glory  of  God.  Some  of  the 
Jews  may  naturally  be  supposed  to  have  been  left  behind, 
at  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Judah^  in  the  distant 
isles  of  the  sea  or  the  regions  of  Europe,  and  even  in  the 
territories  of  the  modern  Tarshish.  These  now  will  hear 
the  joyful  news;  and  will  be  gathered  together  along  with 
their  brethren  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  north,  the 
south,  and  the  east.  In  Palestine  the  two  kindred  na- 
tions will  coalesce  into  one  :  for,  although  Ephraim  will 
undoubtedly  be  restored,  he  will  be  for  ever  broken,  so 
that  he  shall  be  no  more  a  distinct  people*.  We  further 
learn  from  this  passage,  that  Israel  will  be  restored  in  a 
converted  state,  as  one  of  the  divisions  of  Judah  had  been 
before  him.  The  great  maritime  people,  as  we  ai-e  else- 
where taught  by  Isaiah  t,  is  to  bring  certain  of  the  sons 
of  Judah,  as  a  present  iinto  the  Lord;  whence  it  must  be 
inferred,  that  both  the  bringers  and  the  brought  are  faith- 
ful worshippers :  the  various  continental  powers  through- 
out the  whole  world  are,  in  a  similar  manner,  to  bring 
their  brethren  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  by  various  modes  of 
land  conveyance,  as  an  offering  to  the  hord;  whence  the 
same  inference  must  unavoidably  be  drawn.  The  pre- 
sent passage  indeed  is  on  the  whole  more  decisive  than 
the  other;  for  it  is  added,  that  the  offering  oithe  dispersed 
tribes  should  be  brought  by  the  nations,  as  the  children 
of  Israel  bring  an  offering  in  a  clean  vessel  into  the  house 
of  the  Lord.  Hence  it  is  plain,  since  nothing  legally 
unclean  could  be  offered  under  the  Levitical  dispensation, 
that  the  tribes,  so  brought  as  an  offering,  must  be  figura- 
tively clean :  and,  since  the  two  passages  are  altogether 
pai'allel  in  point  of  phraseology,  that  part  of  Judah,  which 
is  brought  by  the  ships  of  the  modern  Tyre,  must  be 
figuratively  clean  likewise. 

The  prophet  concludes  with  symbolically  describing 
the  glories  of  the  millennium,  which  will  commence  so 

*  Isaiah  vji.  8.  \  Isaiah  Xviii.  7.    See  also  Is.  9. 


170 

soon  as  both  Judah  and  Israel  shall  have  been  full  v.  re- 
stored  *. 


PROPHECY  XVI. 

The  cap'ivity,  restoration,  conversion,  and  union  of  Judah  and 
Israel — The  invdsion  of  Palestine  from  the  north  by  AntichrisS, 
—His  destruction. 

Jeremiah  iii.  1.  They  say,  if  a  man  put  away  his  wife, 
and  she  go  from  him,  and  become  another  man's,  shall 
he  return  unto  her  again  ?  shall  not  that  land  be  greatly 
polluted?  But  thou  hast  played  the  harlot  with  many 
lovers ;  yet  return  again  to  me,  saith  the  Lord  f — 6.  The 
LorJ  also  said  unto  mc  in  the  days  of  Josiah  the  king\ 
Hast  thou  seen  what  backsliding  Israel  hath  done  ?  she  is 
gone  up  upon  every  mountain,  and  under  CAcry  green 
tree,  and  there  hath  played  the  harlot.  7.  And  I  said, 
after  she  had  done  all  these  things,  Turn  thou  unto  me  : 
but  she  returned  not.  And  her  treacherous  sister  Judah 
saw  it.  8.  And  I  saw,  when,  for  all  the  causes  whereby 
backsliding  Israel  committed  adulter}^,  I  had  put  her 
away,  and  given  her  a  bill  of  divorce;  yet  her  treacher- 
ous sister  Judah  feared  not,  but  went  and  played  the 
harlot  also — 

12.  Go,  and  proclaim  these  words  towiu'd  the  north, 
and  say.  Return  thou  backsliding  Israel,  saith  the  Lord;- 
and  I  will  not  cause  mine  anger  to  fall  upon  you  :  for  I- 
am  merciful,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  not  keep  anger 
for  ever — 14.  Turn,  O  backsliding  children,  saith  the 
Lord;  for  I  am  man'ied  unto  you :  and  I  will  take  you, 

*  Mr.  Lowth  justly  observes  on  this  p.irtof  the  prophecy,  "the  worship  of 
the  new  JeniSLikm  is  represented  by  ilie  practice  of  the  Jewish  temple  ;  as 
if  the  propliet  had  said,  tliat  state  sliall  be  one  continued  festival.  K  is  usual 
with  the  prophets  to  describe  the  Gospel  dispensations  by  the  usages  of  their 
own  times. 

f  Feturn  again  to  me  saith  the  Lord."]  In  the  Levitical  law,  a  man,  who 
had  put  away  his  wife,  was  forbidden  to  take  her  ag-ain,  lest  an  encourag-e- 
ment  should  tliereby  be  held  out  to  licentiousness  ;  but  God,  in  the  case  of 
las  mystical  consort,  the  church  of  Israel,  is  here  represented  as  meixifullj'^ 
dispensing  with  his  own  law.  See  Dr.  Blayney's  Jerem.  in  loc.  and  Mr,  Lowth 
?n  loc. 


17X 

tjne  out  of  a  city,  and  two  out  of  a  family  *,  and  I  wiU 
bring  you  to  Zion.  15.  And  I  will  give  you  pastors 
according  to  mine  heart,  which  shall  feed  you  with 
knowledge  and  understanding,  16.  And  it  shall  come 
to  pass  when  ye  be  multiplied  and  increased  in  the  land, 
In  those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  they  shall  say  no  more. 
The  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  t  '•  neither  shall  it 
come  to  mind ;  neither  shall  they  remember  it,  neither 
shall  they  visit  it ;  neither  shall  that  be  done  any  more. 
17.  At  that  time  they  shall  call  Jerusalem,  The  throne 
of  the  Lord:  and  all  the  nations  shall  be  gathered  unto 
it,  to  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  Jerusalem:  neither  shall 
they  walk  any  more  after  the  imagination  of  their  evil 
heart.  18.  In  those  days  the  house  of  Judah  shall  walk 
with  the  house  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  come  together 
out  of  the  kmd  of  the  north,  to  the  land  that  I  have  given 
for  an  inheritance  unto  your  fathers — 

iv.  5.  Declare  ye  in  Judah,  and  publish  in  Jerusalem, 
and  say,  Blow  ye  the  trumpet  in  the  land :  cry,  gather 
together,  and  say,  Assemble  yourselves,  and  let  us  go 
into  the  defenced  cities.  6.  Set  up  the  banner  toward 
Zion;  retire,  stay  not;  for  I  will  bring  evil  from  the  north, 
and  a  great  destruction.  7,  The  lion  is  come  up  from  his 
thicket,  the  destroyer  of  the  nations  is  on  his  way :  he  is 
gone  forth  from  his  place  to  make  thy  land  desolate,  to 
lay  waste  thy  cities,  that  they  may  be  desolate  without  an 
inhabitant.  8.  For  this  gird  you  w^ith  sackcloth,  lament 
and  howl ;  for  the  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  is  not  turned 
back  from  us.  9.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  at  that  day, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  the  heart  of  the  king  shall  perish,  and 
the  heart  of  the  princes ;  and  the  priests  shall  be  astonish- 
ed, and  the  prophets  shall  wonder.  10.  Then  said  I,  Ah 
Lord  God !  surely  thou  hast  greatly  deceived  this  people| 

*  Iivill  take  you,  one  out  of  a  city,  and  tivo  out  of  a  family,^  The  miracu- 
lous gathering  of  the  long-lost  tribes  of  Israel  seems  Ix'i-e  to  be  intended. 
Sprinkled  as  they  now  are  through  the  various  cities  and  families  of  the  e^st, 
they  shall  then  all  be  discovered    Compare  Isaiah  x.wii.  13   in  Prnnhecy  vii. 

f  Tkev  shall  say  7io  more.  The  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord']  Compare 
Isaiah  xxxi.  31 — 34.  and  see  Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

^  Ah  Lord  God  !  surely  thou  hast  greatly  deceived  this  people  3  The  ^ev.s  may 
imagine,  that  their  restoration  to  their  own  country  w^ill  be  imattend-d  by 
any  calamities  to  themselves ;  but  both  this,  and  many  other  prophecies, 
tejkch  us,  that  they  shall  be  severely  scourged  for  their  past  iniquities. 


172 

and  Jerusalem,  saying,  Ye  shall  have  peace :  whereas  the 
sword  reaCheth  unto  the  soul.  11.  At  that  time  it  shall 
be  said  to  this  people  and  to  Jerusalem,  A  dry  Avind  of  the 
plains*  in  the  wilderness  approacheth  the  daughter  of  my 
people,  not  to  fan  nor  to  cleansef.  12.  A  full  wind  shall 
come  from  those  places  for  me :  now  therefore  will  I  speak 
judgments  with  them.  13.  Behold,  he  shall  come  up  as 
clouds,  and  his  chariots  shall  be  as  a  whirlwind ;  his  horses 
are  swifter  than  eagles.  Wo  unto  us,  for  we  are  spoiled ! 
O  Jerusalem,  wash  thine  heiut  from  wickedness,  that  thou 
mayest  be  saved :  how  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge 
within  thee?  15.  For  a  voice  declareth  from  Dan,  and 
publisheth  affliction  from  mount  Ephraim  |.  16.  Make 
ye  mention  to  the  nations,  publish  against  Jerusalem, 
Besiegers  come  from  a  far  country^!,  and  give  out  their 
voice  against  the  cities  of  Judah — 19.  My  bowels,  my 
bowels ;  I  am  pained  at  my  very  heart :  my  heart  maketh 
a  noise  in  me  :  I  cannot  hold  my  peace,  because  thou 
hast  heard,  O  my  soul,  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  and 
the  alarm  of  war.  20.  Destruction  and  destruction  is 
cried;  for  the  whole  land  is  spoiled:  suddenly  are  my 
tents  spoiled,  and  my  curtains  in  a  moment.  21.  How 
long  shall  I  see  the  standard,  and  hear  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet  ?  ^2.  For  my  people  is  foolish,  they  have  not 
known  me ;  they  are  sottish  children,  and  they  have  none 
understanding;  they  are  wise  to  do  evil,  but  to  do  good 
they  have  no  knowledge. 

23.  I  beheld  the  earth ;  and,  lo!  it  was  without  form 
and  void;  and  the  heavens  and  they  had  no  light.     24.  I 

*  A  dry  wind  of  the  plains."]     See  Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 

f  A  dry  tbind—not  to  fan,  nor  to  cleanse.']  Antichrist  shall  go  forth,  not 
merely  to  subdue,  but  utterly  to  exterminate  (Compare  Dan.  xi.  44.)  ;  to 
sweep  away,  not  merely  the  cha<f,  but  the  wlieat  likewise.  For  a  time  he 
shiiU  be  successful,  and  the  whole  land  shall  be  desolate  :  yet  (Ver.  27.) 
will  the  Lord  not  make  a  full  end.  "  Tempestuous  luinds,  or  the  motion  of 
clouds,"  says  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  "  are  put  for  war,j."  01)serv.  on  Dan.  C  2. 
p.  18  See  the  same  metaphor  applied  to  enemies  and  destroyers  in  Isaiah 
xxvii.  8.  Jerem.  xlix.  36.  li.  1.  Ezek.  xvii.  10.  xix.  12.   Hos.  xiii.  15. 

t  Dan— mount  Ephraim.]  This  passage  describes  the  progress  of  the 
Antichristian  army  from  the  north,  a  matter  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
course  of  the  present  prophecy.  "The  rumour  of  the  enemy's  approach  is 
heard  first  from  Dan,  which  being  the  most  northern  part  of  ytidea  was  first 
of  all  invaded.  And  the  evil  tidings  still  increase,  as  the  army  marcheth  for- 
ward toward  Jerusalem,  by  the  way  of  mount  Ephraim."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

^  Afar  country.]  The  empire  oi  Antichrist,  France  and  its  vassal  provinces, 


173 

beheld  the  mountains ;  and,  lo,  they  trembled,  and  all 
the  hills  moved  lightly.  25.  I  beheld;  and,  lo,  there 
was  no  man,  and  all  the  birds  of  the  heavens  were  fled. 
26.  I  beheld;  and,  lo  the  fruitful  place  was  a  wilderness, 
and  all  the  cities  thereof  were  broken  at  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  by  his  fierce  anger.  27.  For  thus  hath  the 
Lord  said,  The  whole  land  shall  be  desolate :  yet  will  I 
not  make  a  full  end.  28.  For  this  shall  the  earth  mourn, 
and  the  heavens  above  be  black :  because  I  have  spoken 
it,  I  have  purposed  it,  and  will  not  repent,  neither  will 
I  turn  back  from  it.  29.  The  whole  citv  shall  flee  *, 
for  the  noise  of  the  horsemen  and  bowmen ;  they  shall  go 
into  thickets,  and  climb  up  upon  the  rocks :  the  whole 
city  shall  be  forsaken,  and  not  a  man  dwell  therein. 

i.  13.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me  the 
second  time,  saying,  What  seest  thou?  And  I  said,  I 
see  a  seething  pot,  and  the  face  thereof  is  turned  from 
the  north.  14.  Then  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Out  of 
the  north  an  evil  shall  break  forth  upon  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land.  15.  For,  lo,  I  will  call  all  the  families  of 
the  kingdoms  of  the  north,  saith  the  Lord:  and  they 
shall  come,  and  they  shall  set  every  one  his  throne  at  the 
entering  of  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  and  against  all  the 
walls  thereof  round  about,  and  against  all  the  cities  of 
Judah. 

vi.  1.  O  ye  children  of  Benjamin,  gather  yourselves 
to  flee  out  of  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  blow  the  trum- 
pet in  Tekoa,  and  set  up  the  fire-beacon  in  Bethhacce- 
rim :  for  evil  appeareth  out  of  the  north,  and  gi-eat  de- 
struction. 22.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  a  people 
Cometh  from  the  north-country,  and  a  great  nation  shall 
be  roused  from  the  ends  of  the  earth.  23.  They  shall  lay 
hold  on  bow  and  spear:  they  are  cruel,  and  have  no 
mercy  :  their  voice  roareth  like  the  sea,  and  they  ride 
upon  horses,  set  in  array  as  men  for  war  against  thee,  O 
daughter  of  Zion. 

X.  22.  Behold  the  noise  of  the  bruit  is  come,  and  a 
great  commotion  out  of  the  north- country,  to  make  the 
cities  of  Judah  desolate,  a  den  of  dragons.    23.  O  Lord, 

•  The  whole  city  shall Jlee."]    Compare  Zechar.  xiv.  1,  2,  3. 


174 

1  know  that  the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself:  it  is  not  m 
man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps.  24.  O  Lord,  cor. 
rect  me,  but  with  judgment ;  not  in  thine  anger,  lest 
thou  bring  me  to  nothing.  25.  Pour  out  thy  fury  upon 
the  nations  that  know  thee  not,  and  the  families  that  call 
not  on  thy  name:  for  they  have  eaten  up  Jacob,  and 
devoured  him,  and  consumed  him,  and  have  made  his 
habitation  desolate. 

xii.  10.  Many  pastors  *  have  destroyed  my  vineyard, 
they  have  trodden  my  portion  under  foot,  they  have  made 
my  pleasant  portion  a  desolate  wilderness.  11.  They 
have  desolated  it  into  a  desolate  wilderness:  it  mourneth 
unto  me  being  desolate,  for  no  man  layetb  it  to  heart. 
12.  Upon  all  the  plains  in  the  wilderness  the  spoilers 
have  come :  for  the  sword  of  the  Lord  devoureth  from 
the  one  end  of  the  land  even  to  the  other  end  of  the  land: 
no  flesh  shall  have  peace.  13.  They  have  sown  wheat, 
but  shall  reap  thorns :  they  have  put  themselves  to  pain, 
but  shall  not  profit:  and  they  shall  be  ashamed  of  your 
revenues,  because  of  the  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord. 

14.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  against  all  the  evil  neigh- 
bours, that  touch  the  inheritance  which  I  have  caused 
my  people  Israel  to  inherit ;  Behold,  I  will  pluck  them 
out  of  their  land,  and  pluck  out  the  house  of  Judah  from 
among  them.  15.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  after  that 
I  have  plucked  them  out,  I  will  return  and  have  com- 
passion on  them,  and  will  bring  them  again,  every  man 
to  his  heritage,  and  every  man  to  his  land.  16.  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  if  they  will  diligently  learn  the  ways 
of  my  people,  to  swear  by  my  name,  The  Lord  liveth, 
as  they  taught  my  people  to  swear  by  Baal;  then  shall 
they  be  built  in  the  midst  of  my  people.  17.  But  if 
they  will  not  obey,  I  will  utterly  pluck  up,  and  destroy 
that  nation,  saith  the  Lord. 

COMMENTARY. 

"  Prophecy  was  a  business,  in  which  the  intellect  of 
man,  under  the  control  of  the  inspiring  Spirit,  had  an 

*  Many  pastors.']    Princes  or  leadersj  shepherds  of  the  people.    See  Bp- 
Newton's  Dissert,  v  1 1 1 . 3. 


175 

active  share ;  and  accordingly  the  composition  owes  much 
of  its  colouring;  (but  nothing  more)  to  the  natural  genius 
and  taste  oi  the  writer.  And  hence  it  is  that  such  a 
variety  of  style  is  found  in  the  works  of  the  different 
authors  of  the  Old  Testament,  all  equally  inspired.  In 
Isaiah  the  transitions  are  remarkably  sudden  and  bold*:'* 
Jeremiah  possesses  less  of  the  sublime,  and  is  for  the 
most  part  lax  and  diffuse  in  his  mode  of  writing  f. 

It  is  generally  maintained,  that  the  tivelve  first  chap- 
ters of  this  prophet  were  composed  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  J : 
and  they  afford,  I  think,  a  sufficient  degree  of  internal 
evidence  to  warrant  the  opinion,  that  they  all  constitute 
jointly  one  continued  prediction.  Jeremiah's  natural 
style  has  led  him  to  expand  through  twelve  chapters, 
what  Isaiah  would  probably  have  condensed  into  one  or 
two :  and  he  has  perpetually  departed  from  his  main  sub- 
ject to  bewail  the  sins  of  his  people,  or  to  introduce  what 
may  be  termed  episodical  prophecies  \.  Yet,  true  to  his 
original  point,  he  repeatedly  and  as  it  were  anxiously  re- 
curs to  some  tre?nendous  invasion  of  Palestine  from  the 
north. 

The  most  compact  part  of  the  prediction,  if  I  may  so 
speak,  Is  contained  in  the  3(/  and  Ath  chapters;  and  this, 
I  apprehend,  will  lead  us  to  a  right  understanding  of  the 
whole.  Jeremiah  foretells,  in  the  3d  chapter,  that,  as  the 
house  of  Israel  had  been  led  away  captive  in  consequence 
of  her  spiritual  fornication,  so  likewise  should  the  house 
of  Judah;  that  God  however  would  not  retain  his  anger 
for  ever,  but  that  the  house  of  Israel  upon  her  sincere  re- 
pentance should  Certainly  be  restored ;  that  the  Lord 
would  again  marry  her,  and  at  the  time  of  her  restoration^ 
would  gather  her  lost  children,  one  out  of  a  city,  and  two 
out  of  a  family;  that  he  would  give  her  pastors  according 
to  his  own  heart ;  that,  when  her  children  should  be  mul- 
tiplied and  increased  in  the  land,  they  should  no  longer, 

*  Bp.  of  St.  Asaph's  letter  on  the  18th  chap,  of  Isaiah,  p.  78. 

f  "Jeremias,  quanquam  nee  eleg-antia  nee  sublimitate  caret,  tanjen  utra- 
qiie  cedit  Isaix — In  sensibus  qiiidem  aliquanto  minus  est  elatus,  in  sententiis 
plerumque  laxior  et  sohitior."     Lowth  de  sacra  poesi,    Heb.  Prsel.  xxr. 

t  See  Gray's  Key,  p.  378. 

§  Thus,  in  Chap.  v.  ver.  15 — 18..  tlx  devolatien  of  y^dah  by  the  jRo-mans  i«- 
predicted. 


176 

iib  ill  old  times,  venerate  the  ark  of  the  convenant,  but 
that  the  ceremonial  law  should  be  entirely  abolished ; 
that,  at  this  same  period,  Jerusalem  should  be  called  the 
throne  of  the  Lord ;  that  all  nations  should  be  gathered 
unto  it,  eVen  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  that  they 
::5hould  walk  no  more  after  the  imagination  of  their  evil 
heart :  finally,  that  in  those  days  tlie  house  of  Jiidah  should 
walk  with  the  house  of  Israel^  ;  that  they  should  no  lon- 
ger form  two  distinct  and  rival  nations ;  but  that  they 
should  coalesce  together  into  one  ;  and  should  be  brought 
back  out  of  the  land  of  the  north  into  the  land  of  the  in- 
heritance of  their  fathers. 

It  appears  to  me  sufficiently  evident,  that  the  \\'hole  of 
this  is  an  unfulfilled  prophecy.  It  nearly  altogether  treats 
of  the  general  restoration  of  Israel^  as  contradistinguish- 
ed from  the  partial  restoration  of  Judah.  The  house  of 
Israel  however  has  not  yet  returned  :  we  have  not  yet 
beheld  her  lost  children  gathered,  by  some  divine  inter- 
position, individually,  one  out  of  a  city,  and  two  out  of  a 
family  :  the  days  are  not  yet  arrived,  when  she  hath  re- 
ceived pastors  according  to  the  heart  of  the  Lord :  she 
hath  not  yet  so  returned  unto  the  land  of  her  inheritance, 
as  there  to  have  ceased  to  venerate  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant and  the  ceremonial  law  :  the  nations  have  not  yet 
been  gathered  unto  Jerusalem  ;  neither  have  they  as  yet 
ceased  to  walk  after  the  imagination  of  their  evil  heart : 
Judah  and  Israel  have  not  yet  coalesced  into  one  people. 
The  only  time,  when  this  prophecy  might  be  conceived 
to  have  been  accomplished,  was  at  the  period  of  the  res- 
toration from  Babyloji^  when  several  individuals  o^the  ten 
tribes  returned  with  and  were  mingled  with  the  tribe  of 
Judah:  (but  independent  of  such  an  interpretation  being 
little  better  than  a  mere  quibble),  if  we  consider  the  gene- 
ral tenor  of  it,  we  shall  be  convinced  that  it  is  impossible 

*  "  The  reur.ion  of  hrad  and  yudah,  and  their  joint  participation  of  the  bless- 
:i:gs  of  the  MessiaWs  kingdovi,  is  elsewhere  foretold  (See  Jerem.  xxiii.  6. 
XXX.  3— 9  Isaiah  xi.  12,  13.  Ezek.  xxxvii.  21, -22.  Hos.  i.  11.  Rom.  xi. 
26.).  And  that  in  the  latter  days  they  shall  actually  return  from  their  sev^- 
i-al  dispersions,  to  dwell  as  a  nation  in  their  own  land,  is  declared  in  such  ex- 
press terms  by  most  of  the  ancient  prophets,  that  there  cannot  be  a  doubt,  I 
think,  of  its  being  literally  fulfilled  in  due  time."  Dr.  Blavney  on  Jerem. 
■  iii.  18. 


177 

to  refer  its  completion  to  that  era.  During*  the  time  which 
elapsed  between  the  restoration  from  Bo.hylon  and  the 
first  advent  of  our  Lord,  we  cannot  allow  the  Jews  to  have 
been  uniformly  fed  by  faithful  pastors ;  neither  had  they 
ceased  to  venerate  the  ceremonial  law  ;  neither  were  all 
nations  gathered  unto  Jerusalem ;  nor  had  they  ceased  to 
walk  after  the  imagination  of  their  evil  heart.  Hence  it  is 
plain,  that  the  prophecy  was  not  then  accomplished;  and, 
if  it  were  not  then  accomplished,  we  must  look  for  its 
completion  to  some  yet  future  period. 

With   this  restoration  however  of  Israel  and  Judah^ 
which  has  never  yet  taken  place,  the  prophet  immediate- 
ly connects  some  tremendous  invasion  of  Palestine  from 
the  north.     He  mentions  it  in  his  first  chapter,  previous 
to  his  entering  more  immediately  upon  his  main  subject : 
he  next,  in  his  fourth  chapter,  unites  it  with  his  main 
subject :  and  he  afterwards  seems  never  to  lose  sight  of 
it,  for  in  the  subsequent  parts  of  his  prediction  he  refers 
to  it  no  less  than  three  different  times.     What  then  are 
we  to  understand  by  this  invasion  from  the  north  ?     It 
might  be  thought,  from  the  circumstance  of  Jeremiah's 
elsewhere  joining  the  families  of  the  north  with  Nebu- 
chadnezzar king  of  Babylon  *,  that  this  northern  invasion 
meant  that  of  the  Babylonians:  but  the  general  tenor  of 
the  prophecy  will  scarcely  warrant  such  an  opinion.  Ne- 
buchadnezzar might  indeed  pour  into  Palestine  from  his 
northern  provinces  of  Syria  and  Samaria,  although  his 
empire  itself  lay  almost  directly  east  of  Jerusalem  :  but 
no  invasion  of  his,  from  whatever  quarter  it  might  pro- 
ceed, can  have  any  relation  to  one,  which  Jeremiah  im- 
mediately connects  with  the  yet  future  restoration  of  Is- 
rael and  Judah.     The  same  remark  applies  with  double 
force  to  the  expedition  of  Titus  against  Jerusalem.     He 
himself  came,  not  from  the  north,  but  from  the  west: 
and  with  him  he  brought  only  a  small  body  of  troops; 
for  the  main  army,  of  which  he  took  the  command,  was 
already  quartered  in  Palestine  and  the  neighbouring  pro- 
vinces f. 

*  Jerem.  xxv.  9.  f  Tacit.  Hist.  L.v.  C.  , 

23 


178 

Do  we  find  then  any  mention  made,  in  other  collateral 
prophecies,  of  a  furious  attack  about  to  be  made  upon  Pa- 
lestine from  the  region  of  the  norths  at  the  period  of  the 
restoration  of  Jiidah  ?  If  we  do,  we  may  reasonably  con- 
clude, that  Jeremiah,  treating  as  he  does  of  tJie  same  pe- 
riod, means  likewise  the  same  northern  attack. 

Joel,  predicting  the  restoration  of  the  Jeivs,  declares, 
that  at  the  time  when  they  are  brought  back  to  their  own 
land  they  shall  be  violently  assailed  by  a  confederacy  of 
many  natiojis;  but  that  God  will  remove  far  from  them 
the  northern  tyrant,  and  drive  him  into  a  land  barren  and 
desolate,  with  his  face  toward  the  east-sea,  and  his  hind- 
er part  to^vard  the  utmost  sea  ^.  This  northern  tyrant, 
described  by  Joel,  can  be  no  other  than  Daniel's  wilful 
king,  the  head  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy,  who  in- 
vades Palestine  at  the  same  era  of  the  restoration,  and 
\vho  is  destined  to  perish  between  the  two  seas  \.  Such 
being  the  case,  if  the  head  of  the  confederacy  or  the  wil- 
ful king  be  i?ifidel  F?'ance,  as  I  have  elsewhere  attempted 
to  prove,  he  can  only  be  styled  a  northern  one  with  refer- 
ence to  Judea,  on  account  of  his  invading  that  countr}^  by 
land  and  from  the  north.  Accordingly  the  infdel  king, 
the  life  and  soul  of  the  whole  confederacy,  is  plainly  re- 
presented by  Daniel,  as  conducting  his  expedition,  not 
by  sea,  but  by  land. 

Since  then  we  find  a  northern  expedition  against  Pa- 
lestine, at  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Judah,  clearly 
foretold  both  by  Joel  and  Daniel  Avith  a  variety  of  minute 
circumstances ;  and  since  this  expedition  cannot  but  be 
that  oi  Antichrist  and  his  associates:  we  must,  I  think,  al- 
most unavoidably  conclude,  that  the  northern  invasion,  so 
often  mentioned  by  Jeremiah  as  contemporary  with  the 
restoration  of  Judafi^  is  the  expedition  of  Antichrist  like- 
wise. 

The  description,  which  Jeremiah  gi\-es  of  this  northern 
irwasion,  perfectly  accords  with  such  a  supposition.  As 
Isaiah  represents  the  Antichristian  confederacy  under  the 
images  of  a  bird  of  prey  and  beasts  of  the  earth  winter- 
ing and  summering  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel  % ;  so 

*  Joel  ii.  20.  f  Dan.  xi.  4*.  xii.  1.  ±  Isaiah  xviii.  6., 


179 

Jeremiah  here  beholds  in  his  vision  Ant'tchrht  or  the  in- 
Jidel  tyrant^  that  great  destroyer  of  the  jiotions  *,  going 
forth  from  his  place  to  desolate  Palestine,  as  a  lion  com- 
eth  up  from  his  thicket:  and,  as  both  Isaiah  and  Joel  de- 
pict, under  symbols  borrowed  from  the  universal  wreck 
of  nature,  the  last  dreadful  struggles  of  Antichrist^  dur- 
ing what  Daniel  terms  in  plain  language  a  peiiod  of  un- 
exampled  trouble  ;  so  Jeremiah  exhibits  to  us  the  same 
tremendous  events,  under  the  very  same  set  of  hiero- 
glyphics i". 

The  sum  of  the  whole  prophecy  seems  to  be  this. 
That,  although  God  had  scattered  both  Judah  and  Israel^ 
he  would  nevertheless  restore  both  Judah  and  Israel. 
That,  after  their  restoration,  they  should  become  one 
people,  worshipping  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  not  in  the 
ceremonial  observances  of  the  law.  That  the  Lord  would 
surely  pluck  them  out  of  the  hand  of  those,  who  had  so 
long  trodden  their  portion  under  foot;  and,  although  he 
might  suffer  their  enemies,  the  northern  confederacy^  to 
prevail  for  a  season,  he  would  at  length  overthrow  that 
confederacy,  and  utterly  break  its  strength  for  ever.  That 
nevertheless,  if  such  as  escaped  in  the  day  of  God's  con- 
troversy with  the  nations  would  diligently  learn  the  ways 
of  his  people,  they  should  then  be  built  up  in  the  midst 
of  his  people  |.  And  that  finally,  when  the  Lord  had 
poured  out  his  wrathful  indignation  on  Antichrist  and  his 
rebellious  associates.,  Jerusalem  should  be  called  the  throne 
of  the  Lord,  and  all  nations  should  be  gathered  unto  it  §. 

*  St.  John  speaks  of  this  same  monster  and  his  popi-sh  associates,  as  be- 
ing those  who  destroy  the  earth,  but  whom  God  was  about  to  destroy  in  their 
turn  during  the  blast  of  the  third  luo-trumpct  (Rev.  xi.  18.).  Precisely  the 
same  language  is  used  by  Isaiah,  in  speaking  of  the  typical  king  of  Babylon; 
by  whom,  as  I  have  already  attempted  to  shew,  we  must  understand  the 
great  Antichrist  of  the  last  ages.  "  He,  who  smote  the  people  in  wrath  with 
a  continual  stroke,  he,  that  ruled  the  nations  in  anger---How  art  thou  cut 
down  to  the  ground,  which  didst  weaken  the  nations  !— Is  this  the  man,  that 
made  the  earth  to  tremble,  that  did  shake  kingdoms  ?  that  made  the  world 
as  a  wilderness,  and  destroyed  the  cities  thereof?"  Isaiah  xiv.  6,  12,  16,  17. 

t  Compare  Isaiah  xxiv.  19—23.  and  Joel  ii.  30,  31.  with  Jerem.  iv.  23—26, 

t  Compare  Isaiah  Ixvi.  19.  and  Zechar,  xiii.  8. 

§  Compare  Isaiah  ii.  3. 


180 


PROPHECY  XVII. 


The  idolatry  of  the  Israelites  in  the  land  of  their  dispersion— Their 
restoration  by  sea  and  by  land — The  punishment  of  Judah — The 
general  conversion  of  the  Gentiles. 

Jeremiah  xvi.  13.  I  will  cast  you  out  of  this  land  into 
a  land  that  ye  know  not,  ye  and  your  fathers ;  and  there 
shall  ye  serve  other  gods  day  and  night,  where  I  will  not 
shew  you  favour. 

14.  Alter  this,  behold,  The  days  come,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  it  shall  no  more  be  said.  As  the  Lord  liveth,  that 
brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt;  15.  But,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  that  brought  up 
the  children  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  the  north,  and  from 
all  the  lands  whither  he  had  driven  them :  for  I  will  bring 
ihem  again  into  their  land  that  I  gave  unto  their  fathers. 

16.  Behold,  I  will  send  unto  many  fishers,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  they  shall  fish  them ;  and  after  that  will  I  send  unto 
many  hunters,  and  they  shall  hunt  them  from  every  moun- 
tain, and  from  every  hill,  and  from  the  holes  of  the  rocks. 

17.  For  mine  eyes  are  upon  all  their  ways:  they  are  not 
hid  from  my  face,  neither  is  their  iniquity  hid  from  mine 
eyes.  18.  And  first  I  will  recompense  their  iniquity  and 
their  sin  double  ;  because  they  have  defiled  my  land,  they 
have  .filled  mine  inheritance  with  the  cai'casses  of  their 
detestable  and  abominable  things. 

19.  O  Lord,  my  strength,  and  my  fortress,  and  my 
refuge  in  the  day  of  aifliction,  the  Gentiles  shall  come 
unto  thee  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  shall  say,  Sure- 
ly our  fathers  have  inherited  lies,  vanity,  and  things 
wherein  there  is  no  profit.  20.  Shall  a  man  make  gods 
imto  himself?  Even  they  are  no  gods.  21.  Therefore 
behold,  I  will  at  this  time  cause  them  to  know,  I  will 
cause  them  to  know  my  hand  and  my  might,  and  they 
shall  know  that  my  name  is  Jehovah. 

COMMENTARY. 

Jeremiah  commences  with  predicting,  that,  after  the 
children  of  Israel  had  been  cast  out  of  their  own  land. 


181 

they  should  serve,  in  a  land  which  they  knew  not,  other 
gods  day  and  night.  This  part  of  the  prophecy  has  been 
accomplished  in  the  case  of  Judah  by  means  of  the  dia- 
bolical tyranny  of  Popery.  The  fear  of  the  inquisition 
has  compelled  many  of  the  Jexvs  to  worship  the  gods  of 
modern  Rome,  and  to  bow  to  stocks  and  stones  rather 
than  their  effects  should  be  seized  and  confiscated.  Ac- 
cording to  Basnage,  that  iniquitous  court  reduces  them 
to  the  dilemma  of  being  either  hypocrites  or  burnt. 
"  The  number  of  these  dissemblers,"  says  he,  "  is  very 
considerable;  and  it  ought  not  to  be  concluded,  that 
there  are  no  Jews  in  Spain  or  Portugal,  because  they  are 
not  known.  They  are  so  much  the  more  dangerous,  for 
not  only  being  very  numerous,  but  confounded  with  the 
ecclesiastics,  and  entering  into  all  ecclesiastical  digni- 
ties *."  Nor  is  this  the  only  tyranny  to  which  the  Jews 
have  been  exposed:  in  order  that  their  children  may  be 
trained  up  to  idolatry  from  their  very  youth,  they  have, 
in  several  countries,  in  Spain  and  Portugal  particularly, 
been  taken  from  them  by  order  of  government  to  be 
educated  in  the  popish  religion  f-  The  prophecy  has 
been  equally  accomplished  in  the  case  of  the  ten  tribes. 
Such  of  them  as  mingled  with  the  nations  fell  into  their 
idolatrous  practices ;  and  the  Afghans^  if  they  be  descend- 
ants of  the  Israelites^  are  at  the  present  day  Mohamme- 
dans J. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  their  dispersion  and  apostasy, 
the  time  should  come,  when  their  deliverance  out  of 
Egypt  should  be  no  more  regarded,  in  comparison  with 
their  still  greater  restoration  from  the  land  of  the  north 
and  from  all  the  lands  into  which  they  had  been  scattered. 
In  due  season,  God  should  first  send  many  fishers,  to  fish 
them ;  and  afterwards  many  hunters,  to  hunt  them  out  of 
all  their  hiding  places.  Throughout  the  whole  prophecy, 
we  are  to  observe,  the  restoration,  not  merely  of  Judah, 
but  of  the  whole  people  of  Israel,  is  evidently  spoken  of. 
In  this  part  of  it  therefore  we  have  a  manifest  allusion  to 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vu.  15.  f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vu.  13. 

+  I  have  already  noticed  the  manner,  in  which  prophecies  that  foretell  the 
idolatry  of  the  jfews  during  their  dispersion,  and  prophecies  that  declare  they 
should  not  relapse  into  idolatry,  have  alike  been  accomplished,  however  appa:- 
rently  inconsistent  with  each  other.    Vide  supra  Note  on  Proph.  vi. 


182 

the  two-fold  return,  first  oiJudah,  and  afterwards  oi  Israel. 
Since  a  considerable  part  of  the  first  division,  or  Judah, 
namely  such  of  the  Jews  as  shall  be  corwerted  previous  to 
their  return  into  their  own  country^  is  to  be  restored  by  a 
great  maritime  nation,  Jeremiah  aptly  borrows  an  image 
from  muritime  life,  and  styles  the  restoring  p€0])\e  Jishers  ; 
and,  since  the  second  division,  or  Israel,  is  to  be  restored 
by  continental  powers,  he  similarly  borrows  an  image  from 
land  life,  and  styles  the  restoring  nations  hunters.  Both 
these  images  are  exquisitely  chosen  in  another  point  of 
view  likewise :  as  the  exercise  of  fishing  partakes  little  of 
that  laborious  search  and  investigation  which  character- 
ises the  exercise  of  hunting,  so  Judah  will  be  much  more 
easily  collected  together,  than  Israel.  The  one  will  rea- 
dily be  allured  by  the  bait  of  the  metaphorical  fisher- 
men; the  other,  lost  in  the  widely  extended  regions  of 
Asia,  must  be  hunted  by  the  metaphorical  hunters  from 
every  mountain,  and  from  every  hill,  and  from  all  the 
holes  of  the  rocks. 

Nevertheless,  though  all  Israel  shall  be  restored,  the 
Jews  at  least  shall  assuredly  be  restored  through  much 
tribulation.  God  will  visit  upon  them  their  former  abo- 
minations, and  will  first  recompense  their  iniquity  and 
their  sin  double.  But,  when  their  restoration  and  that 
of  Israel  is  fully  accomplished,  then  shall  the  Gentiles 
come  unto  the  Lord  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  they 
^hall  jointly  form  one  fold  under  one  shepherd  *. 


PROPHECY  XVIII. 

A  denunciation  against  those  who  have  tyrannized  over  Israel— 
The  restoration  and  conversion  both  of  Israel  and  Judah, 

Jeremiah  xxiii.  1.  Wo  be  unto  the  pastors,  that  de- 
stroy and  scatter  the  sheep  of  my  pasture,  saith  the  Lord. 
2.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  against  the 
pastors  that  feed  my  people;  Ye  have  scattered  my  flock, 
and  driven  them  away,  and  have  not  visited  them  :  be- 

*  I  much  doubt  whether  this  prophecy  can  have  even  a  primary  relation 
TO  the  Feturn  from  the  Babylonian  captivity. 


183 

hold,  1  will  visit  upon  you  the  evil  of  your  doings,  saith 
the  Lord.  3.  And  I  will  gather  the  remnant  of  my  flock 
out  of  all  countries  whither  I  have  driven  them,  and  will 
bring  them  again  to  their  folds ;  and  they  shall  be  fruitful 
and  increase.  4.  And  I  will  set  up  shepherds  over  them 
which  shall  feed  them  :  and  they  shall  fear  no  more,  nor 
be  dismayed,  neither  shall  they  be  lacking,  saith  the 
Lord.  5.  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I 
will  raise  unto  David  a  branch  the  Righteous  One;  and 
a  king  shall  reign,  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute  judg- 
ment and  justice  in  the  earth.  6.  In  his  days  Judah 
shall  be  saved,  and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely :  and  this  is 
his  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  Jehovah  our  Righ- 
teousness. 7.  Therefore  behold,  the  days  come,  saith 
the  Lord,  that  they  shall  no  more  say.  As  the  Lord  liveth, 
which  brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt;  8.  But,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  which  brought  up 
and  which  led  the  seed  of  the  house  of  Israel  out  of  the 
north-country,  and  from  all  countries  whither  I  had  dri- 
\  en  them ;  and  they  shall  dwell  in  their  own  land. 

COMMENTARY. 

This  prophecy,  like  the  preceding  one,  speaks  of  the 
general  restoration  of  all  Israel.  The  pastors,  who  are 
said  to  destroy  and  scatter  the  sheep  of  God's  pasture  in- 
stead of  feeding  them,  I  take  to  be,  not  spiritual,  but  poli- 
tical, pastors;  shepherds  of  the  people.  They  are  the 
same  as  those,  whom  Jeremiah  had  already  described  as 
destroying  the  Lord's  vineyard,  and  treading  his  portion 
under  foot  *  :  that  is  to  say,  they  are  the  different  Gen- 
tile sovereigns,  who  at  sundry  times  have  conquered  Pa- 
lestine, and  afflicted  the  children  of  Israel  f.  All  these, 
notwithstanding  their  temporary  success,  are  to  be  visit- 
ed in  their  turn  for  the  evil  of  their  doings.  The  pre- 
diction, so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  oppressmg  pastors,  has 
already  been  in  part  accomplished.     "  The  Egyptians 

*  Jerem.  xii.  10. 

f  When  the  whole  tenor  of  prophecy  is  considered,  I  cannot  but  thinfcl 
somewhat  unnatural  to  suppose,  with  Dr.  Blayney,  that  these  pastors  mean  the 
latter  ivicied  iings  of  David's  race,  particularly  Zedekiah.     1  doubt  likewise, 
whether  this  prediction,  any  more  thau  the  preceding  one^  relates  at  iMio  the 
murnfrom  Babylon. 


184. 

much  afflicted  the  nation  of  the  Hebrews,  and  detained 
them  in  bondage  several  years.     The  Assyrians  carried 
away  captive  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel;  and  the  Babylo- 
nians aftenvards,  the  two  remaining  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin.    The  Syro- Macedonians,  especially  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  cruelly  persecuted  them :  and  the  Romans  ut- 
terly dissolved  the  Jewish  state,  and  dispersed  the  people 
so  that  they  have  never  been  able  to  reco'STr  their  city 
and  country  again.     And  where  are  now  these  great  and 
famous  monarchies,  which  in  their  turns  subdued  and 
oppressed  the  people  of  God?  Are  they  not  vanished  as 
a  dream ;  and  not  only  their  power,  but  their  very  names, 
lost  in  the  earth  ?  The   Egyptians,  Assyrians,  and  Ba- 
bylonians, were  overthrown,  and  entirely  subjugated,  by 
the  Persians:  and  the  Persians  (it  is  remarkable)  were 
the  restorers  of  the  Jews^  as  well  as  the  destroyers  of  their 
enemies.     The   Syro- Macedonians  were  swallowed  up 
by  the  Romans :  and  the  Roman  empire,  great  and  power- 
ful as  it  was,  was  broken  into  pieces  by  the  incursions  of 
the  northern  nations ;  while  the  Jexvs  are  subsisting  as  a 
distinct  people  at  this  day.     And  what  a  wonder  of  Pro- 
vidence is  it,  that  the  vanquished  should  so  many  ages 
survive  the  victors ;  and  the  former  be  spread  all  over  the 
world,  while  the  latter  are  no  more  *."     The  prediction 
however  will  be  yet  more  amply  fulfilled  at  the  era  of  the 
final  restoration  of  Israel.,  when  the  sovereigns  of  the  Ro- 
mish apostasy,  who  are  now  rapidly  sinking  into  the  state 
of  mere  vassals  to  Antichrist.,  shall  be  overthrown,   along 
with  their  tyrannical  chief  and  their  false  prophet.,  in  the 
land  of  Palestine,  in  the  region  between  the  two  seas. 

Their  destruction  will  be  the  prelude  to  a  new  and 
happy  order  of  things.  The  Messiah,  at  his  second  ad- 
vent (for  his  second  advent  is  here  manifestly  spoken  of), 
will  reign  over  his  people  Israel.,  either  personally,  or  by 
the  instrumentality  of  other  righteous  shepherds.  In  his 
days  Judah  shall  be  saved,  and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely : 
and  their  restoration  from  the  diiferent  countries  of  their 
dispersion  shall  then  be  as  much  celebrated,  as  their  de- 
liverance out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  was  in  the  days  of  yoref . 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  viii.  2. 

I  Compare  with  this  prophecy  Jerem.  xjyciii^ 


185 


PROPHECY  XIX. 

The  general  restoration  of  Isi'ael — The  restoration  of  Judah  in  a 
time  of  great  trouble — The  overthrow  of  Antichrist — The  cer- 
tainty of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  and  his  happy  state  subsequent 
to  it. 

Jeremiah  xxx.  1.  The  word  that  came  to  Jeremiah 
from  the  Lord,  saying,  2.  Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  saying,  Write  thee  all  the  words  which  I  have 
spoken  unto  thee  in  a  book.  3.  For  lo,  the  days  come^ 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  bring  back  the  captivity  of  my 
people  Israel  and  Judah  *,  saith  the  Lord :  and  I  will 
cause  them  to  return  to  the  land  that  I  gave  to  their  fa- 
thers, and  they  shall  possess  it.  4.  And  these  are  the 
words  that  the  Lord  spake  concerning  Israel  and  concern- 
ing Judah.  5.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord :  We  hear  a 
voice  of  trembling,  of  fear,  and  not  of  peace.  6.  Ask  ye 
now,  and  see,  whether  a  man  doth  travail  with  child? 
wherefore  do  I  see  every  man  with  his  hands  on  his  loins 
as  a  woman  in  travail,  and  all  faces  are  turned  into  pale- 
ness ?  7.  Alas !  for  that  day  is  great,  so  that  none  is 
like  it :  it  is  even  the  time  of  Jacob's  trouble ;  but  he 
shall  be  saved  out  of  it.  8.  For  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 
that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  I  will  break  his  yoke 
from  off  his  neck,  and  his  bands  f  will  I  burst  asunder; 
and  strangers  shall  no   more  exact  service  of  him  J  : 

*  Israel  and  ^udah."]  " Israel  und  ^udah,  having'  been  carried  away  by 
two  distinct  captivities  into  different  parts  of  the  world,  several  prophecies 
of  the  Old  Testament  not  only  foretell  the  restoration  of  each  of  them,  but 
likewise  their  re-union  after  their  restoration.  Now,  though  it  be  granted 
that  some  of  every  tribe  did  return  to  their  own  country  under  Cyrus  and  Ar- 
taxerxes,  and  are  therefore  called  by  the  name  of  all  Israel  (Ezra,  ii.  73.  vi. 
17.  vii.  13  X.  5.  Nehem.  xii.47.)  ;  yet  the  far  greater  part  of  these  were  oS 
yudah  and  Benjamin,  together  with  the  Levites  (Ezra.  i.  5.).  So  that  it  is  a 
great  question,  what  is  become  of  the  main  body  of  the  ten  tribes,  which  Sal- 
manasar  carried  away  into  Assyria  and  the  neighbouring  countries.  From  all 
which  we  may  infer,  that  this  and  the  like  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament 
refer  to  a  further  restoration  of  Me  ^^ewcf  that  is  yet  to  come."  Mr.  LowtU 
in  loc. 

f  His  neck — his  bands,"]     See  Dr.  Blayney  in  loc 

+  Strangers  shall  no  more  exact  service  of  him.']  "  This  promise  has  not  yet 
received  its  accomplishment;  since,  after  tfie  return  of  the  l/ews  under  Cy- 
sus,  they  were  reduced  into  servitude  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans ;  and  a^ 

-24 


9.  But  they- shall  serve  tlie  Lord  their  God,  and  -David 
their  king  *  whom  I  will  raise  up  unto  them.  10.  There- 
fore fear  thou  not,  O  my  servant  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord ; 
neither  be  dismayed,  O  Israel :  for  lo,  I  will  save  thee 
from  afar,  and  thy  seed  from  the  land  of  their  captirity  t ; 
and  Jacob  shall  return,  and  shall  be  in  rest,  and  be  quiet, 
and  none  shall  make  him  afraid.  IL  For  I  am  with  thee, 
saith  the  Lord,  to  save  thee :  though  I  make  a  full  end 
of  all  nations  whither  I  have  scattered  thee,  yet  will  I  not 
make  a  full  end  of  thee:  but  I  will  correct  thee  in  exact 
measure  J,  and  will  not  leave  thee  altogether  unpunished — 
16.  All  they,  that  devour  thee,  shall  be  devoured;  and 
all  thine  adversaries,  every  one  of  them,  shall  go  into  cap- 
tivity; and  they  that  spoil  thee  shall  be  a  spoil,  and  all 
that  prey  upon  thee  will  I  give  for  a  prey.  17.  For  1 
will  restore  health  unto  thee,  and  I  will  heal  thee  of  thy 
w^ounds,  saith  the  Lord;  because  they  called  thee.  An 
outcast,  this  Zion,  no  man  seeketli  after  her.  18.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord ;  Behold,  I  ^vill  bring  again  the  captivity 
of  Jacob's  tents,  and  have  mercy  on  his  dwelling  places; 
and  the  city  shall  be  builded  upon  its  own  ruinous  heap, 
and  the  temple  shall  stand  after  the  measure  thereof. 
19.  And  out  of  them  shall  proceed  thanksgiving,  and  the 
voice  of  them  that  make  merry :  and  I  will  multiply  them, 
and  they  shall  not  be  a  few;  I  will  also  glorify  them,  and 
they  shall  not  be  small.  20.  Their  children  also  shall  be 
as  aforetime,  and  their  congregation  shall  be  established 
before  me,  and  I  will  punish  all  that  oppress  them. 
21.  And  their  nobles  shall  be  of  tliemselves,  and  their 
governor  shall  proceed  from  the  midst  of  them :  and  I 
will  cause  him  to  draw  near,  and  he  shall  approach  unto 
me :  for  who  is  he  that  engaged  his  heart  to  approach 

present  there  is  no  place  in  the  world  where  they  can  be  said  to  be  their  own 
masters."     Mr.  Lowth  in  Inc. 

*  Barid  t'leir  iing.']  "That  is,  ^/;e  Mcssiakf  yrhn  is  often  called  by  the 
name  of  David  in  the  prophets,  as  the  person  in  whom  all  the  promises  made 
to  David  were  to  be  fiiHilled."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  /  luill  save  thee  from  afar,  and  thy  seed  from  the  land  ff  their  captivity."]  "  I 
will  deliver  thee  from  tliy  captivity^  thoug-h  thou  shouldest  be  dispersed  into 
tlie  most  distant  countries.  And  tliis,  though  it  be  not  accomplished  in  the 
yews  of  the  present  age,  shall  be  made  good  to  their  posterity,  who  are  be- 
loved for  their  fathers*  sake,  as  St.  Paul  speaks."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

i  I  viill  not  mate  a  full  end  of  thee  :  but  I  will  correct  thee  in  exact  measure.'j 
Compare  this  with  Isaiah  xxvii.  7,  8,  9.  in  Prophecy  vii. 


187 

unto  me?  saith  the  Lord.    22.  And  ye  shall  be  my  peo 
pie,  and  I  will  be  your  God. 

23.  Behold,  the  whirlwind  of  the  Lord  goeth  forth  with 
fury,  a  violent  whirlwind :  it  shall  fall  with  pain  upon  the 
head  of  the  wicked.  24.  The  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord 
shall  not  return  until  he  have  done  it,  aiid  until  he  have 
performed  the  intents  of  his  heart :  in  the  end  of  days  * 
ye  shall  clearly  understand  it. 

xxxi.  1.  In  that  time,  saith  the  Lord,  will  I  be  the 
God  of  all  the  families  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  be  my 
people — 3.  The  Lord  hath  appeared  from  afar  unto  me. 
Yea,  I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting  love;  there- 
fore with  loving  kindness  have  I  drawn  thee.  4.  Again 
I  will  build  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  built,  O  virgin  of  Is- 
rael f:  thou  shalt  be  adorned  J  with  thy  tabrets,  and  shalt 
go  forth  in  the  dances  of  them  that  make  merry.  5,  Thou 
shalt  yet  plant  vines  upon  the  mountains  of  Samaria  ^ ; 
the  planters  shall  plant,  and  shall  sing  praises — 7.  For 
thus  saith  the  Lord ;  Sing  with  gladness  for  Jacob,  and 
shout  for  the  head  of  the  nations  %  :  publish  ye,  praise  ye, 
and  say,  O  Lord,  save  thy  people  the  remnant  of  Israel. 
8.  Behold,  I  will  bring  them  from  the  north-country,  and 
gather  them  from  the  coasts  of  the  earth,  and  with  them 
the  blind  and  the  lame,  the  woman  with  child,  and  her 
that  travaileth  with  child  together  :  a  great  company  shall 
return  thither.     9.  They  shall  come  with  weeping,  and 

*  In  the  end  of  days.']     Compare  this  with  Dan.  xi.  40 — 45.  xii.  1---10. 

•f-  Virgin  of  Israel']  "  The  virgin  of  Israel  is  of  the  same  extent  with  all 
the  families  of  Israel  {yev.  1.).  For  the  blessings  here  promised  sliall  receive 
their  utmost  completion,  when  Israel  and  yudah  shall  again  be  united  into 
one  people."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc.  • 

t  Thou  shalt  be  adorned"]  Or,  as  the  passage  ought  perhaps  more  propei*ly 
to  be  translated,  thou  shalt  pass  over,  that  is,  thou  shalt  trip  along  the  path.  Vide 
4nfra  Note  on  Proph.  xxxi  v. 

§  Sa^naria.]  "  ^'awuir/a,  being  the  metropolis  of  t/ze  ten  tribes,  seems  to 
be  put  for  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  as  it  was  distinct  from  that  of  yudah— Tnk'ing 
Samaria  in  this  sense,  it  implies,  tiiat  the  deliverance  here  spoken  of  shall  ex- 
tend to  Israel  as  well  as  yudah."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

II  Tfie  head  of  the  nations.]  Israel  shull,  after  his  restoration,  become  the 
joy  of  the  whole  earth,  the  first  of  all  nations;  not  in  the  carnal  sense  wliich 
the  yetiis  expected  at  thefrst  advent  of  our  Lord,  but  in  a  sublime  and  spiritual 
sense.  "  This  term," says  Dr.  Bla3ney,  "Hook  upon  to  be  synonymous  with 
yacob  or  Israel,  who,  beingthe  peculiar  people  of  God,  was  thereby  exalted 
to  a  pre-eminence  above  other  nations.  The  privileges  of  primogeniture  are 
■  asserted  to  belong  to  him  ( Ver  9.),  which  is  equivalent  to  calling  him  the 
chief  or  head  of  the  nations ,-  the  first-born  being  commonly  entitled  to  the  rank 
of  chief  or  head  among  many  brethren." 


188 

•with  supplications  will  I  lead  them  :  I  will  cause  them  to 
walk  by  the  rivers  of  waters  in  a  straight  way  wherein  they 
shall  not  stumble  :  for  I  am  a  father  to  Israel,  and  Ephraim 
is  my  first-born  *.  10.  Hear  the  word  of  the  I^ord,  O 
ye  nations,  and  declare  it  in  the  isles  afar  off,  and  say. 
He  that  scattered  Israel  will  gather  him,  and  keep  him 
as  a  shepherd  doth  his  flock.  11.  For  the  Lord  hath 
redeemed  Jacob,  and  ransomed  him  from  the  hand  of 
him  that  was  stronger  than  he — 15.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  A  voice  was  heard  in  Ramah,  lamentation  and 
bitter  weeping ;  Rachel,  weeping,  for  her  children  f,  re- 
fused to  be  comforted  for  her  children,  because  they 
were  not.  16.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Refrain  thy  voice 
from  weeping,  and  thine  eyes  from  tears  ;  for  thy  work 
shall  be  rewarded,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  they  shall  come 
again  from  the  land  of  the  enemy.  17.  And  there  is  hope 
in  thy  last  end  |,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  thy  children  shall 
come  again  to  their  own  borders.  18.  I  have  surely  heard 
Ephraim  bemoaning  himself  thus :  Thou  hast  chastised 
me,  and  I  was  chastised,  as  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the 
yoke  :  turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall  be  turned ;  for  thou  art  the 
Lord  my  God.  19.  Surely  after  that  I  was  turned,  I  repent- 
ed; and,  after  that  I  was  instructed,  I  smote  upon  my  thigh: 
I  was  ashamed,  yea,  even  confounded,  because  I  did  bear 
the  reproach  of  my  youth.  20.  Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son  ? 
is  he  a  pleasant  child  ?  for,  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do 
earnestly  remember  him  still :  therefore  my  bowels  are 
troubled  for  him :  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him, 
saith  the  Lord.  21.  Set  thee  up  way-marks,  make  thee 
high-heaps :  set  thine  heart  toward  the  high-way,  even 
the  Avay  which  thou  wentest :  turn  again,  O  virgin  of 
Israel,  turn  again  to  these  thy  cities — 27.  Behold,  the 

*  Ephraim,  is  triy Jirst-born.']  "Ephraim  is  often  equivalent  to  Israel,  espe- 
cially when  Israel  denotes  the  ten  tribes  as  distinct  from  yudah— This  implies, 
that  God  will  restore  the  nation  of  the  ye%vs  to  their  primitive  state,  as  it  stood 
before  their  separation  into  two  king'doms."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  Rachel,  loeeping  for  her  children.']  This  is  applied  by  St.  Matthew  to  the 
murder  of  the  innocents  by  Herod  :  biit  he  undoubtedly  cites  the  prophecy 
only  in  the  way  of  application.  The  whole  context  clearly  shews,  that  it  pro- 
perly relates  to  the  figurative  mourning-  of  the  mother  of  the  house  ofyoseph, 
on  account  of  the  dispersion  of  the  ten  tribes.  See  Dr.  Blayney  in  loc.  See 
also  Mr.  Lowth. 

■^  There  is  hope  in  thy  last  end."]  The  allegorical  last  end  of  Rachel  is  the 
re-e.stablishment  of  her  children  as  a  people. 


189 

days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  sow  the  house  of 
Israel  and  he  house  of  Judah  with  the  seed  of  man  and 
the  seed  of  beast  *.  28.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that, 
like  as  I  have  watched  over  them  to  pluck  up,  and  to  break 
down,  and  to  throw  down,  and  to  destroy,  and  to  afflict ;  so 
win  I  watch  over  them  to  build,  and  to  plant,  saith  the  Lord 
— 31.  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will 
make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with 
the  house  of  Judah  :  32.  Not  according  to  the  covenant 
that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  took  them 
by  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  which 
my  covenant  they  brake,  although  I  was  an  husband  unto 
them,  saith  the  Lord;  33.  But  this  shall  be  the  covenant 
that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel ;  After  those  days, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts, 
and  write  it  in  their  hearts ;  and  I  will  be  their  God,  and 
they  shall  be  my  people.  34.  And  they  shall  teach  no 
more,  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every  man  his  bro- 
ther, saying,  Know  the  Lord;  for  they  shall  all  know  me, 
from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the 
Lord :  for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remem- 
ber tlieir  sin  no  more.  35.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  which 
giveth  the  sun  for  a  light  by  day,  the  appointed  courses 
of  the  moon  and  the  stars  for  a  light  by  night,  which 
dividcth  the  sea  when  the  waves  thereof  roar;  the  Lord 
of  hosts  is  his  name.  36.  If  those  appointed  courses  de- 
part from  before  me,  saith  the  Lord,  then  the  seed  of 
Israel  also  shall  cease  from  being  a  nation  before  me  for 
ever.    37.  Thus  saith  the  Lord;  If  heaven  above  can  be 

*  Inuill  S01U  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  ofyudah  luith  the  seed  of  man 
and  the  seed  of  beast.']  I  will  cause  there  to  be  a  great  increase  both  of  men  and 
cattle.  Suscttabo  domuni  Israel  et  domum  yuda  :  multiplicabo  eos  hominibus,  et 
prosperabo  eos  pecoribus  (Chal.  Paraph.).  Seminabo  doinwin  Israel  et  domuin 
yuda  semine  honiitium  et  semi/ie  jumentorwuz  (Vulg.  Lat).  Seminabo  Israelitis 
et  yudais  semen  hominuTn  et  semen  jumentorum,  (Vers.  Syriac).  Seminabo 
Israelem,  et  ^udam  semine  humano  et  sem,ine  jum.enti  (Vers.  Arab.).  The 
passage  nearly  resembles  a  parallel  prophecy  of  Ezeklel.  *'  But  ye,  O 
mountains  of  Israel,  ye  shall  shoot  forth  your  branches,  and  yield  your  fruit 
to  my  people  of  Israel :  for  they  are  at  hand  to  come.  For  behold,  I  .im 
for  you,  and  I  will  turn  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  tilled  and  sown.  And  I  will 
multiply  men  upon  you,  all  the  house  of  Israel  even  all  of  it :  and  the  cities 
shall  be  inhabited,  and  the  wastes  shall  be  builded.  And  I  will  multiply  upon 
you  man  and  beast ;  and  they  shall  increase  and  bring  fruit :  and  1  will  settle 
you  after  your  old  estates,  and  will  do  better  unto  you  than  at  your  begin- 
nings :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."    Ezek.  xxxvi.  8—11. 


190 

measured,  and  the  foundations  of  the  earth  searched  out 
beneath,  I  will  also  cast  off  all  the  seed  of  Israel  for  all 
that  they  have  done,  saith  the  Lord.  38.  Behold  the 
days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  the  city  shall  be  built  to 
the  Lord,  from  the  tower  of  Hmianeel  unto  the  gate  of 
the  corner.  39.  And  the  measuring  line  shall  yet  go  forth 
overagainst  it  upon  the  hill  Gareb,  and  shall  compass  about 
to  Goath.  40.  And  the  whole  valley  of  the  dead  bodies, 
and  of  the  ashes,  and  all  the  fields  unto  the  brook  of  Ki- 
dron,  unto  the  corner  of  the  horsegate  toward  the  east, 
shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord :  it  shall  not  be  plucked  up, 
nor  thrown  down  any  more  for  ever. 

COMMENTARY. 

Dr.  Blayney  makes  the  following  judicious  remarks  on 
the  prediction  contained  in  these  two  chapters. 

"  There  are  many  prophecies  in  various  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament,  which  announce  the  future  restoration  of 
Israel  to  their  owji  land^  and  the  complete  re-establishment 
of  both  their  civil  and  religious  constitution  in  the  latter 
days.  These  two  chapters  contain  a  prophecy  of  this 
kind,  which  must  necessarily  be  refen-ed  to  those  times, 
because  it  points  out  circumstances,  which  certainly  were 
not  fulfilled  at  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylo- 
nish capti^'ity,  nor  have  hitherto  had  their  completion. 
For  the  people,  that  returned  from  Babylon,  were  the 
people  of  Judah^  who  had  been  carried  away  captive  by 
Nebuchadnezzar;  but  here  it  is  foretold,  that  not  the  cap- 
tivity ofJudah  only  should  be  restored,  but  the  captivity 
of  Israel  also,  meaning  those  ten  tribes^  that  were  carried 
away  before  by  Shalmanaser  king  of  Assyria,  and  who 
still  remain  in  their  several  dispersions,  having  never  re- 
turned, in  a  national  capacity  at  least,  to  their  own  land, 
whatever  some  few  individuals  have  done.  But  the  terms 
of  the  prophecy  entitle  us  to  expect,  not  an  obscure  and 
partial,  but  a  complete  and  universal,  restoration;  when 
God  will  manifest  himself,  as  formerly,  the  God  and  pa- 
tron of  all  the  families  of  Israel^  and  not  of  a  few  only. 
Again,  it  is  promised,  that  after  this  restoration  they 
should  no  more  fall  under  the  dommion  of  foreigners, 


1^1 

but  be  governed  by  princes  and  magistrates  of  their  own 
nation,  independent  of  any  but  God  and  David  their  king. 
But  this^  was  not  the.  case  with  the  Jews  that  returned  from 
Babylon.  They  then  indeed  had  a  leader,  Zerubbabel, 
one  of  their  own  nation,  and  also  of  the  family  of  David. 
But  both  theh'  nation  and  the  leader  continued  still  in  a 
state  of  vassalage  and  the  most  servile  dependence  upoa 
the  Persian  monarchy.  And,  when  the  Grecian  monar- 
chy succeeded,  they  changed  their  masters  only,  not  their 
condition :  till  at  length,  under  the  Asmonean  princes, 
they  had  for  a  while  an  independent  government  of  their 
own,  but  without  any  title  to  the  name  of  David,  At  last 
they  fell  imder  the  Roman  yoke ;  since  which  time  their 
situation  has  been  such,  as  not  to  afford  the  least  ground 
to  pretend,  that  the  promised  restoration  has  yet  taken- 
place.  It  remains  therefore  to  be  brought  about  in  future 
under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  emphatically  distinguish- 
ed by  the  name  of  David;  when  every  particular  circum- 
stance, predicted  concerning  it,  will,  no  doubt,  be  veri- 
fied by  a  distinct  and  unequivocal  accomplishment." 

On  these  grounds,  we  may  safely,  I  think,  venture  to 
pronounce,  that  the  joint  restoration  of  Judah  and  Israel 
in  the  last  ages  is  again  foretold  in  the  present  prediction 
of  Jeremiah,  as  it  already  has  been  in  the  foregoing  ones. 
The  prophet  begins  with  declaring,  that,  although  they 
should  certainly  return  into  their  own  country,  they 
should  return,  at  least  Judah  should  return  in  a  day  of 
unexampled  trouble.  Terrible  however  as  that  day  will 
be,  Jacob  shall  surely  be  saved  out  of  it :  the  yoke  of  his 
oppressors  shall  be  broken  from  off  his  neck :  his  children 
shall  no  longer  serve  strangers  in  the  land  of  their  disper- 
sion :  but  they  shall  serve  the  Lord  their  God,  and  the 
antitypical  David  their  king  the  Messiah.  Of  the  nations, 
among  which  they  have  been  scattered,  God  w^ill  make  a 
full  end  :  but  of  them  he  will  not  make  a  full  end ;  for, 
although  he  will  not  leave  them  altogether  unpunished^ 
he  will  correct  them  only  in  exact  measure.  While  they 
are  chastised  with  a  fatherly  chastisement,  the  whirlwind 
of  the  Lord  will  go  forth  with  fury,  and  fall  upon  the  head 
of  the  wicked.  Antichrist  and  his  rebeUious  associates* 
The  prophet  adds,  that,  at  the  end  of  days,  ox  after  the 


192 

termination  of  the  1260  years,  this  prediction  shall  be 
fully  understood :  till  then  it  shall  not,  for  till  then  it  will 
not  be  accomplished.  As  the  time  however  of  its  com- 
pletion approaches,  we  shall  gradually  obtain  a  clearer 
insight  into  it.  Already  have  many  begun  to  run  to  and 
fro;  and  knowledge  is  daily  increasing,  as  the  signs  of  the 
times  multiply.  In  our  own  generation  we  have  seen  the 
rise  of  Antichrist.  His  ultimate  fate  is  likewise  predict- 
ed; and  his  destruction  is  declared  to  be  contemporary 
with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  at  the  close  of  the  1260 
years.  But  over  more  minute  circumstances  the  impe- 
netrable veil  of  awful  futurity  still  continues  to  spread 
itself.  The  anger  of  the  Lord  will  not  return,  until  he 
have  performed  all  the  purposes  of  his  heart :  when  they 
are  all  performed,  we  shall  then  in  the  end  of  days  fully 
vniderstand  both  this  and  other  similar  prophecies. 

In  the  remainder  of  the  prediction,  Jeremiah  seems 
peculiarly  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  restoration  of  the 
house  of  Israel,  which  w^ill  not  take  place  till  after  the 
overthrow  of  Antichrist  and  the  previous  restoration  of 
the  house  ofJudah,  Lost  as  the  ten  tribes  at  present  are, 
though  the  figurative  Rachel  has  long  bewailed  her  scat- 
tered children,  which  in  a  remarkable  manner  are  not, 
the  virgin  of  Israel  shall  again  go  forth  to  the  dance,  the 
mountains  of  Samaria  shall  again  be  planted,  and  Ephraim 
shall  not  for  ever  be  an  alien  from  his  God  and  Father. 
As  the  Lord  hath  hitherto  watched  over  Judah  and  Isra- 
el only  to  destroy  and  afflict  them ;  so  will  he  then  watch 
over  them,  to  build  and  to  plant.  He  will  make  a  new 
and  spiritual  covenant  with  them.  They  shall  no  more 
be  boinid  by  laborious  ceremonial  observances.  But  they 
shall  all  know  the  Lord  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  of 
them.  Meanwhile  Palestine  shall  exult  in  more  than  its 
ancient  fertility;  its  population  shall  experience  a  won- 
derful increase ;  and  every  kind  of  useful  animals  shall  be 
multiplied  throughout  its  provinces.  Thus  will  God  bless 
the  latter  end  of  his  chosen  people,  more  than  their 
beginning. 


193 

PROPHECY  XX. 

The  desolation  of  the  mystic  Edom. 

Lamentations  iv.  21.  Rejoice,  and  be  glad*,  O  daugh- 
ter of  Edom,  that  dwellest  in  the  land  of  Uz,  the  cup 
also  shall  pass  through  unto  thee  :  thou  shalt  be  drunken, 
and  shalt  make  thyself  naked.  22.  The  punishment  of 
thine  iniquity  is  accomplished,  O  daughter  of  Zion;  he 
will  no  more  carry  thee  away  into  captivity :  he  will  visit 
thine  iniquity,  O  daughter  of  Edom ;  he  will  discover 
thy  sins. 

COMMENTARY. 

I  have  already  noticed  this  prophec)''.  The  Edom,  here 
spoken  of,  must  undoubtedly  be  a  typical  Edom  ;  because 
his  destruction  is  connected  with  the  very  last  restoration 
of  Israel,  after  which  the  ancient  people  of  God  shall  no 
more  be  carried  away  into  captivity.  The  typical  Edom 
then  must  be  the  great  Roman  Antichristian  confederacy 
of  the  last  ages.  Jeremiah  describes 'Me  daughter  of 
Edom  much  m.  the  same  manner,  though  more  briefly, 
than  St.  John  describes  the  mystic  Babylonian  harlot,  f. 


PROPHECY  XXI. 

The  restoration  and  conversion  of  the  Jews. 

Ezekiel  xi.  13.  Then  fell  I  down  upon  my  face,  and 
eried  with  a  loud  voice  and  said,  Ah  Lord  God,  wilt  thou 
make  a  full  end  of  the  remnant  of  Israel  ?  14.  And  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  15.  Son  of  man, 
thy  brethren,  the  men  of  thy  kindred,  even  all  the  house 

•  Rejoice,  and  be  glad."]  The  words  seem  to  be  spoken  ironically.  Al- 
though thou  hast  long  lived  deliciously,  and  committed  fornification  with  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  a  heavy  judgment  impends  over  thine  head  :  thy  naked- 
ness shall  shortly  be  revealed,  and  thy  sins  discovered.  The  style  of  the  pai- 
sage  is  exactly  similar  to  Eccles.  xi.  9.    See  Dr.  Dlayney  in  loc. 

f  Compare  Rev.  xvii. 

25 


Id4 

of  Israel  wholly,  are  they  unto  whom  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  have  said,  Get  ye  far  from  the  Lord* :  unto  us 
is  this  land  given  in  possession.  16.  Therefore  say,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God ;  Although  I  have  cast  them  far  off 
among  the  nations,  and  although  I  have  scattered  them 
from  among  the  countries,  yet  will  I  be  to  them  as  a  lit- 
tle sanctuary  in  the  countries  where  they  shall  come. 
17.  Therefore  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  I  will  even 
gather  you  from  the  people  f,  and  assemble  you  out  of 
the  countries  where  ye  have  been  scattered,  and  I  will 
give  you  the  land  of  Israel.  18.  And  they  shall  come 
thither,  and  they  shall  take  away  all  the  detestable  things 
thereof,  and  all  the  abominations  thereof  from  thence. 
19.  And  I  will  give  them  one  heart,  and  I  will  put  a  new 
spirit  w  ithin  you  J  ;  and  I  will  take  the  stony  heart  out  of 
their  flesh,  and  will  give  them  an  heart  of  flesh  :  20.  That 
they  may  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  keep  my  ordinances, 
and  do  them  :  and  they  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be 
their  God.  21.  But,  as  for  them  whose  heart  walketh  af- 
ter the  heart  of  their  detestable  things  and  their  abomi- 
nations, I  will  recompense  their  way  upon  their  own 
heads,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

COMMENTARY. 

When  part  of  the  Jews  were  carried  away  captive 
with  Jechoniah,  those,  that  remained  still  in  their  own 
country  with  Zedekiah,  thought  themselves  better  belov- 
ed of  God  than  their  brethren  of  the  dispersion,  whom 
they  looked  upon  as  outcasts,  and  as  having  no  right  either 
to  the  privileges  of  Jeivs  or  to  the  land  of  Judea.  This 
vain  confidence  is  reproved,  and  a  restoration  is  promis- 
ed.    The  prediction  relates  primarily  to  the  return  from 

*  Unto  whom  the  inhabitaiits  of  yeriisalem,  have  said.  Get  ye  far  froin  the 
Lord.']  "  The  yews,  wlio  were  left  in  their  own  country,  thought  themselves 
more  in  God's  favour,  than  those  who  were  carried  away  captive."  Mr. 
Lowth  in  loc.     See  also  his  note  on  Jer.  xxiv.  5. 

f  I  will  even  gather  you  fro')n  the  people.']  "  This  may  be  in  some  degree 
fulfilled  in  those  tliat  returned  from  captivity,  b>it  the  utmost  completion  of 
this  and  the  following  verses  must  be  expected  at  the  general  restoration  of 
the  Jewish  nation."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

+  /  will  put  a  new  spirit  within  you  ]  "  These  promises  chiefly  relate  to  the 
general  conversion  of  the  yen.i:s,  when  God  shall  pour  out  upon  them  the  spirit 
of  grace,  in  order  to  their  conversion.  Zech.  xii.  10."   Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


195 

Babylon ;  but  the  whole  tenor  of  the  latter  part  of  it 
shews  plainly,  that  it  will  not  receive  its  full  and  ultimate 
accomplishment  till  the  days  of  the  final  and  general  res- 
(oration  of  the  Jews.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  can  it  with 
propriety  be  said,  that  God  hath  given  them  a  new  spirit, 
and  a  heart  of  flesh  ;  that  they  are  faithfully  walking  in 
his  statutes,  and  keeping  his  ordinances. 


PROPHECY    XXII. 

The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Judah  and  Israel — The  con- 
version of  the  Gentiles — Jerusalem  the  head  of  all  churches, 
though  not  by  the  Mosaical  covenant. 

Ezekiel  xvi.  46.  Thine  elder  sister  is  Samaria,  she 
and  her  daughters,  that  dwell  at  thy  left  hand  :  and  thy 
younger  sister  that  dwelleth  at  thy  right  hand,  is  Sodom 
and  her  daughters — 53.  When  I  shall  bring  again  their 
captivity,  the  captivity  of  Sodom  and  her  daughters*, 
and  the  captivity  of  Samaria  and  her  daughters,  then  will 
I  bring  again  the  cajitivity  of  thy  captives  in  the  midst  of 
them — 55.  When  thy  sisters,  Sodom  and  her  daughters, 
shall  return  to  their  former  estate,  and  Samaria  and  her 
daughters  \  shall  return  to  their  former  estate,  then  thou 
and  thy  daughters  shall  return  to  your  former  estate — 59. 
For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  I  will  even  deal  with  thee  as 
thou  hast  done,  which  hast  despised  the  oath  in  breaking 
the  covenant.  60.  Nevertheless,  I  will  remember  my 
covenant  with  thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  I  will 
establish  unto  thee  an  everlasting  covenant.  61.  Then 
thou  shalt  remember  thy  ways,  and  be  ashamed,  when 

*  Sodom  and  her  daughters.'}  "  When  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come 
into  the  Church,  some  of  whom  may  be  compared  with  Sodom  for  wicked- . 
ness  (see  Isaiah  i.  9.),  then  will  I  also  remember  you,  who  were  my  ancient 
people— 77je  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  is  expressed  in  Jeremiah  by  the  return- 
ing of  the  captivity  of  Moab,  Ani7non,  and  JS lain  ;  ,and  by  the  Egyptians,  Assy- 
rians, Ethiopians,  and  Syrians,  bringing  presents  to  God,  and  acinoviledgitig  theTn- 
i-ehes  his  servants,  in  the  prophecy  of  Isaiali.  And  by  the  same  analogy  we 
are  to  understand  the  returning  of  the  captivity  of  Sodom  here,  of  the  Gentiles 
coining  into  the  Church."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  Samaria  and  her  daughters."]  "When  the  prophets  foretell  the  general 
conversion  and  restoration  of  the  ycwish  nation,  they  always  join  jfudah  and 
Israel  together,  as  equal  sharers  in  that  blessing."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc  ■ 


196 

thou  shalt  receive  thy  sisters,  thine  elder  and  thy  young- 
er :  and  I  will  give  them  unto  thee  for  daughters,  but  not 
by  thy  covenant  ^.  62.  And  I  will  establish  my  cove- 
nant with  thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord  : 
63.  That  thou  mayest  remember  and  be  confounded,  and 
rnever  open  thy  mouth  any  more  because  of  thy  shame, 
when  I  am  pacified  toward  thee  for  all  that  thou  hast 
done,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

COMMENTARY. 

Under  the  name  of  Sodom  and  her  daughters^  the  whole 
body  of  the  Gentiles  is  mystically  designated.  Their 
conversion  to  the  faith  of  Christ  is  here  foretold;  and  this 
conversion,  agreeably  to  various  other  prophecies,  is  im- 
mediately cormected  with  the  conversion  and  restoration 
boih  oi Israel  An^  Judah.  Notwithstanding  the  many  hein- 
ous offences  of  God's  ancient  people,  he  will  still  not  forget 
his  covenant  with  them;  and,  when  at  length  in  the  latter 
ages  they  shall  remember  their  ways  and  be  ashamed,  he 
will  give  ifo  the  church  of  Jerusalem  her  two  sisters,  the 
church  of  the  Israelites  and  the  church  of  the  Gentiles^ 
for  daughters,  not  indeed  by  the  Mosaical  covenant,  but 
by  a  new  and  better  covenant,  that  of  the  Gospel.  Then 
shall  mount  Zion  be  the  glory  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
the  spiritual  metropolis  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Lamb.  All 
nations  shall  flow  unto  it,  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills.  For  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and  the 
word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem. 


PROPHECY    XXIII. 

The  restoration  of  Israel — The  long  sufferings  of  the  Jews  in  the 
course  of  their  return. 

Ezekiel  xx.  33.  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  surely 
with  a  mighty  hand,  and  with  a  stretched-out  arm,  and 

*  Not  by  thy  covenant.']  "  Not  by  virtue  of  that  covenant  mentioned  ver.  60, 
you  having  forfeited  all  your  title  to  its  privileges  (ver.  89.),  but  by  virtue  of 
that  new  covenant  which  I  will  make  with  you  through  the  Messiah."  Mi- 
i.owthinloc. 


197 

with  fury-poured  out  will  I  rule  over  you.  34.  And  1 
will  bring  you  forth  from  the  peoples*,  and  I  will  gather 
you  out  of  the  countries  wherein  ye  are  scattered,  with  a 
mighty  hand,  and  with  a  stretched-out  arm,  and  with  furj-^ 
poured  out.  35.  And  I  will  bring  you  into  the  wilder- 
ness  of  the  peoples ;  and  there  will  I  plead  with  you  face 
to  face.  36.  Like  as  I  pleaded  with  your  fathers  in  the 
wilderness  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will  I  plead  with  you, 
saith  the  Lord  God.  37.  And  I  will  cause  you  to  pass 
vinder  the  rod ;  and  I  will  bring  you  under  the  chastise- 
ment of  "the  covenant:  38.  And  I  will  purge  out  from 
among  you  the  rebels  f,  and  them  that  transgress  against 
me :  I  will  bring  them  forth  out  of  the  country  where 
they  sojourn,  but  they  shall  not  enter  into  the  land  of 
Israel:  and  ye  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord.  39.  As 
for  you,  O  house  of  Israel,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  Go 
ye,  serve  ye  every  one  his  idols :  yet  hereafter  ye  shall 
surely  hearken  unto  me,  and  ye  shall  not  pollute  my  holy 
name  any  more  with  your  gifts  and  with  your  idols. 
40.  For  in  my  holy  mountain,  in  the  lofty  mountain  of 
Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God,  there  shall  all  the  house  of 
Israel  serve  me,  even  all  of  them  in  the  land:  there  will 
I  accept  them,  and  there  will  I  require  your  offerings, 
and  the  first  fruits  of  your  oblations,  with  all  your  holy 
things.  41.  I  will  accept  you  with  your  sweet  savour, 
when  I  bring  you  out  from  the  peoples,  and  gather  you 
out  of  the  countries  wherein  ye  have  been  scattered ;  and 
I  will  be  sanctified  because  of  you  in  the  sight  of  all  the 
nations.  42.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord, 
when  I  shall  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel,  into  the 
country  concerning  which  I  lifted  up  my  hand  that  I 
would  give  it  to  your  fathers.  43.  And  there  shall  ye 
remember  your  ways  and  all  your  doings  wherein  ye  have 
been  defiled ;  and  ye  shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own 
sight  for  all  your  evils  that  ye  have  committed.  44.  And 
ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  deal  with  you 

*  I 'Mill  bring  you  forth  from  the  peoples.']  "  1  conceive  this  is  to  be  under- 
stood of  the  general  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation  from  the  several  parts  of 
the  world  where  they  are  dispersed."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

•j- 1  lu  ill  purge  out  from  among  you  the  rebels."]  "  I  will  separate  the  righteous 
from  the  wicked  in  order  to  destroy  the  latter,  as  I  did  the  rebellious  Israel-- 
ites  in  the  wilderness."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


198 

for  my  name's  sake ;  not  according  to  your  evil  ways, 
nor  according  to  your  corrupt  doings,  O  ye  house  of 
Israel,  saith  Uie  Lord  God. 

COMMENTARY. 

i 

This  prophecy  is  plainly  confined  to  the  last  ages,  by 
its  relating,  as  Ezekiel  expressly  teaches,  to  the  restora- 
tion of  the  house  of  Israel^  of  o//the  house  of  Israel:  for 
only  some  scattered  individuals  of  the  ten  tribes  returned 
with  Jiidah  from  Babylon.  It  declares,  that,  although 
God  will  assuredly  restore  his  people,  yet  he  will  not  fail 
to  visit  upon  them  their  iniquities.  He  will  plead  with 
them  in  the  wilderness,  as  he  pleaded  with  their  fathers 
during  the  exodus  from  Egypt ;  and  will  purge  out  from 
among  them  the  rebels  and  the  transgressors. 

From  such  denunciations  we  must  necessarily  infer, 
that  the  complete  restoration  of  the  whole  house  of  Israel 
will  be  long  m  accomplishing,  and  that  some  of  its  mem- 
bers will  suffer  severely  in  the  course  of  their  return. 
Accordingly  Daniel  teaches  us,  that  the  Jews  will  begin 
to  be  restored  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  and  during 
a  period  of  unexampled  trouble:  and,  by  computhig  that 
a  space  of  15  years  will  intervene  between  the  close  of  the 
1260  years  and  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium^  and 
by  dividing  these  75  yeai's  into  30  years  and  45  years,  he 
seems  to  give  some  warrant  to  the  conjecture  that  the 
30  years  will  be  occupied  in  the  restoration  ofJudah,  and 
the  45  year's  in  the  restoration  of  Israel.  If  this  be  the 
case,  we  may  conclude,  agreeably  to  the  history  of  the 
exodus  from  Egypt  which  is  here  set  forth  as  a  type  of 
the  yet  future  return  of  the  house  of  Jacob  from  the  coun- 
tries of  their  dispersion,  that  but  few  only  of  the  gene- 
ration, that  set  out  to  return  to  their  own  land,  will  ever 
enjoy  the  possession  of  it  in  peace. 

There  is  reason  to  think  from  other  prophecies,  that 
the  calamities,  here  predicted,  will  chiefly,  if  indeed  not 
altogether,  befall  Juclah :  for  Israel  as  a  nation  will  not  be 
restored  till  after  the  destruction  of  Ajitichi'ist,  and  will 
be  brought  back  with  great  tenderness  and  respect  by  the 
different  peoples  among  which  he  has  been  scattered; 


199 

whereas  Judah  will  be  restored  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
wars  of  Antichrist,  aiid  will  suffer  most  severely  in  the 
struggle  between  the  contending  powers. 

Nevertheless,  the  -whole  house  of  Jacob  shall  ultimately 
be  brought  back,  and  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ ; 
and  these  signal  events  will  be  instrumental  in  causing 
the  Lord  to  be  sanctified  in  the  sight  of  all  the  nations, 
and  in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  to  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth. 

Abp.  Newcome  seems  inclined  to  apply  this  prediction 
to  the  return  from  Babylon  and  the  subsequent  events ; 
but  he  is  obliged,  in  so  doing,  to  resort  almost  entirely 
to  conjecture ;  and,  after  all,  is  by  no  means  consistent 
even  with  himself.     He  supposes  the  desert,  where  God 
is  to  plead  with  his  people,  to  be  one  between  Judea  and 
Babylon.     And  yet  he  thinks,  that,  by  the  rebels  and 
transgressors,  those  are  intended,  "  who,  after  the  mur- 
der of  Gedaliah,  went  into  Egypt,  called  here  the  land  of 
their  sojourning.     Some  of  these  were  to  be  carried  into 
Chaldea  with  the  captive  Egyptians* ;  though  the  greater 
part  were  to  be  consumed  f*  Some  of  the  obstinately  re- 
bellious Jews  might  also  sojourn  in  other  neighbouring 
countries  subdued  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  Edom,  Moab, 
Amnion,  and  Tyre;  and  might  thence  be  taken  into  cap- 
tivity." The  prophet  however  is  surely  speaking  of  those, 
who  should  perish  in  the  course  of  their  bemg  brought 
back  out  of  the  various  countries  of  their  dispersion  into 
their  own  land;  not  of  certain  Jews,  who  were  destroyed 
in  Egypt,  while  others  were  led  away  captive  into  Chaldea. 
They  are  plainly  to  perish  while  returning  from  captivity, 
not  while  going  into  captivity.  Nor  is  this  all.  His  Grace 
very  justly  interprets  the  ^\st  verse  to  mean,  that  the  na- 
tions shall  consider  the  Lord  as  a  great  and  holy  God, 
when  they  observe  his  deliverance  of  the  Jews,  and  their 
obedience  to  him.  But  when  did  any  such  general  vene- 
ration of  God  take  place,  in  consequence  of  the  return  of 
Judah  from  Babylon  ?  This  part  of  the  prediction  can 
only  be  referred  to  the  universal  conversion  of4he  nations 
after  the  final  restoration  of  Israel,  and  during  the  period 

*  Jerwn.  xliU.  11.  t  Jereia.  xHv.  12, 


200 

of  the  Millennium.  And,  if  it  be  thus  refen-ed,  then  the 
whole  prediction  must  be  similarly  referred ;  as  indeed  is 
sufficiently  evident  from  its  treating  of  the  restoration  of 
all  the  house  of  Jacob  out  of  the  various  peoples  and 
nations,  among  which  they  had  been  scattered  *. 


PROPHECY  XXIV. 

The  overthrow  of  the  mystic  Tyre  and  her  prince  preparatory  t« 
the  complete  restoration  and  prosperity  of  Israel. 

Ezekiel  xxvi.  7.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold, 
I  will  bring  upon  Tyre,  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Baby- 
lon, a  king  of  kings,  from  the  north,  with  horses,  and 
with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and  companies,  and 
much  people — 15.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  to  Tyre ; 
Shall  not  the  isles  shake  at  the  sound  of  thy  fall,  when 
the  wounded  cry,  when  the  slaughter  is  made  in  the  midst 
of  thee  ? — 21.  I  will  make  thee  a  terror,  and  thou  shalt 
be  no  more  :  though  thou  be  sought  for,  yet  shalt  thou 
never  be  found  again,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

xxvii.  1.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me, 
saying;  2.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  take  up  a  lamentation 
for  Tyre:  3.  And  say  unto  Tyre;  O  thou  that  art  situate 
at  the  entry  of  the  sea,  a  merchant  of  the  nations  to  many 
isles ;  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  O  Tyre,  thou  hast 
said,  I  am  perfect  in  beauty.  4.  Thy  borders  are  in  the 
midst  of  the  seas,  thy  builders  have  perfected  thy  beau- 
ty. 5.  They  have  made  all  thy  planks  of  fir-trees  of 
Senir :  they  have  taken  cedars  from  Lebanon  to  make 
masts  for  thee.  6.  Of  the  oaks  of  Bashan  they  have 
made  thine  oars :  the  company  of  the  Ashurites  have 
made  thy  benches  of  \yor\  from  the  isles  of  Chittim. 

7.  Fine  linen  with  broidered  work  from  Egypt  was  that 
which  thou  spreadest  forth  to  be  thy  sail :  blue  and  pur- 
ple from  the  isles  of  Elishah  was  that  which  covered  thee. 

8.  The  inhabitants  of  Zidon  and  Arvad  were  thy  mari- 
ners :  thy  wise  men,  O  Tyre,  that  were  in  thee,  were 

*  See  Abp.  Nevrcome's  Ezekiel  in  loc 


201 

thy  pilots — 10.  They  of  Persia,  and  of  Liid,  and  of  Phut, 
were  in  thine  army,  thy  men  of  war:  they  hanged  the 
shield  and  helmet  in  thee ;  they  set  forth  thy  comeliness — 
12.  Tarshish  was  thy  merchant  by  reason  of  the  multi- 
tude of  all  kind  of  riches  ;  with  silver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead, 
they  traded  in  thy  fairs.  13.  Ja^'an,  Tubal,  and  Meshech, 
they  were  thy  merchants :  in  the  souls  of  men  and  ves- 
sels of  brass  they  traded  in  thy  market.  14.  They  of  the 
house  of  Togarmali  traded  in  thy  fairs  with  horses,  and 
horsemen,  and  mules.  15.  The  men  of  Dedan  were  thy 
merchants  :  many  isles  were  the  merchandise  of  thine 
hand  :  they  brought  thee  for  a  present  horns  of  ivory  and 
ebony.  16.  Syria  was  thy  merchant  by  reason  of  the 
multitude  of  the  wares  of  thy  making  :  they  occupied  in 
thy  fairs  with  emeralds,  purple  and  broidered  work,  and 
fine  linen,  and  coral,  and  agate — 19.  Dan  also  and  Javan, 
going  t<p  and  fro,  occupied  in  thy  fairs :  bright  iron,  cas- 
sia, and  calamus,  were  in  thy  market.  20.  Dedan  was- 
thy  merchant  in  precious  clothes  for  chariots.  21.  Ara- 
bia, and  all  the  princes  of  Kedar,  they  occupied  with  thee 
in  lambs,  and  rams,  and  goats — 22.  The  merchants  of 
Sheba  and  Raamah,  they  were  thy  merchants  :  they  oc- 
cupied in  thy  fairs  with  chief  of  all  spices,  and  with  all 
precious  stones,  and  gold.  23.  Haran,  and  Canneh,  and 
Eden,  the  merchants  of  Sheba,  Ashur  and  Chilmad, 
were  thy  merchants.  24.  These  were  thy  merchants  in  all 
sorts  of  things,  in  blue  clothes,  and  broidered  work,  and 
in  chests  of  rich  apparel,  bound  with  cords,  and  made  of 
cedar  among  thy  merchandise.  25.  The  ships  of  Tarshr 
ish  were  the  songs  of  thy  market,  and  thou  wast  reple^ 
nished  and  made  very  glorious  in  the  midst  of  the  seas. 

26.  Thy  rowers  have  brought  thee  into  great  waters  : 
the  east- wind  hath  broken  thee  in  the  midst  of  the  seas. 
27.  Thy  riches,  and  thy  fairs,  thy  merchandise,  thy  ma- 
riners, and  thy  pilots,  thy  calkers,  .and  the  occupiers  of 
thy  merchandise,  and  all  thy  men  of  war  that  are  in  thee, 
and  in  all  thy  company  which  is  in  the  midst  of  thee,  shall 
fall  into  the  midst  of  the  seas  in  the  day  of  thy  ruin  *. 

*  Thy  inariners — thy  men  of  war — shall  fall  into  the  midst  of  the  seas  in  the 
day  of  thy  ruinJ^  The  "xhole  Antichristian  confederacy  of  the  beast,  the  infidel 
king,  and  the  "vassal  sovereigns  of  the  Latin  earth,  shall  be  destroyerl  along'  with 
the  false  prophet  in  one  and  the  same  season  of  unesampied  trouble,  ^ 

26 


202 

28.  Thy  suburbs  shall  shake  *  at  the  sound  of  the  eiy 
of  thy  pilots.  29.  And  all,  that  handle  the  oar,  the  ma- 
riners, and  all  the  pilots  of  the  sea,  shall  come  down  from 
their  ships,  they  shall  stand  upon  the  land;  30.  And 
shall  lilt  up  their  voice  over  thee,  and  shall  cry  bitterly, 
and  shall  cast  up  dust  upon  their  heads,  they  shall  wallow 
themselves  in  the  ashes.  31.  And  they  shall  make  them- 
selves utterly  bald  for  thee,  and  gird  them  with  sackcloth, 
and  they  skill  w^eep  for  thee  with  bitterness  of  heart,  and 
bitter  ^vailing.  32.  And  in  their  wailing  they  shall  take 
up  a  lamentation  for  thee,  and  lament  over  thee,  What 
city  is  like  Tyre,  like  the  destroyed  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea?  53.  When  thy  wares  went  forth  out  of  the  seas, 
thou  filledst  many  people  ;  thou  didst  enrich  the  kings 
of  the  earth  with  the  multitude  of  thy  riches  and  thy  nner- 
chandise.  34.  In  the  time  when  thou  shalt  be  broken  by 
the  seas  in  the  depths  of  the  waters,  thy  merchandise  and 
all  thy  company  in  the  midst  of  thee  shall  fall.  35.  i\ll 
the  inhabitants  of  the  isles  shall  be  astonished  at  thee, 
and  their  kings  shall  be  sore  afraid,  they  shall  be  trou- 
bled in  their  countenance.  36.  The  merchimts  among  the 
people  shall  hiss  at  thee  :  thou  shalt  be  a  terror,  and  ne- 
ver shalt  be  any  more. 

xxviii.  1.  And  the  Word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me, 
saying :  2.  Son  of  man,  say  unto  the  prince  of  Tyre, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Because  thine  heart  is  lifted 
up,  and  thou  hast  said,  I  am  a  God,  I  sit  in  the  seat  of 
God  t  in  the  midst  of  the  seas ;  yet  thou  art  a  man,  and 
not  God,  though  thou  set  thine  heart  as  the  heart  of  God : 
3.  Behold,  thou  art  wiser  than  Daniel ;  there  is  no  se- 
cret that  they  can  hide  from  thee.  4.  With  thy  wisdom 
and  with  thine  understanding  thou  hast  gotten  thee  rich- 
es, and  hast^  gotten  silver  and  gold  into  thy  treasures : 
5.  By   thy  great  \\isdom  and  by  thy  traffic  thou  hast  in- 

•  T'ly  suburbs  shall  shake.']  The  fall  oi  Babylon  shall  be  felt  in^the  most  re- 
mote parts  of  her  spiritual  emjnre. 

f  I  sit  in  the  seat  of  God']  The  man  of  sin,  who  is  described  in  a  manner 
precisely  similar,  Is,  "  in  profession,"  as  Hp.  Newton  observes,  "  a  Christian, 
and  a  Christian  Bishop.  His  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God  plainly  implies  his 
having  his  seat  or  cathedra  in  the  Christian  church  :  and  he  sitteth  there  as 
God,  especially  at  his  inauguration,  when  he  sitteth  upon  the  high  altar  in  St. 
Peter's  clmrch,  and  maketh  the  table  of  the  Lord  his  footstoolj  and  in  that 
position  receivetli  adoration.    Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xxit." 


203 

creased  thy  riches,  and  thme  heart  is  lifted  up  because  of 
thy  riches  :  6.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  be- 
cause thou  hast  set  thine  heart  as  the  heart  of  God ;  7.  Be- 
hold therefore,  I  will  bring  the  strangers  upon  thee,  the 
terrible  of  the  nations:  and  they  shall  draw  their  swords 
against  the  beauty  of  thy  wisdom,  and  they  shall  defile 
thy  brightness  :  8.  They  shall  bring  thee  down  to  the 
pit,  and  thou  shalt  die  the  deaths  of  them  that  are  slain  in 
the  midst  of  the  seas.  9.  Wilt  thou  yet  say  before  him 
that  slayeth  thee,  I  am  God :  but  thou  shalt  be  a  man,  and 
no  God,  in  the  hand  of  him  that  slayeth  thee.  10.  Thou 
shalt  die  the  deaths  of  the  uncircumcised,  by  the  hand  of 
the  strangers :  for  I  have  spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
11.  And  tlie  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying; 
12.  Son  of  man,  take  up  a  lamentation  over  the  king  of 
Tyre,  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God: 
Thou  art  like  a  signet  of  curious  engraving  *  ;  tlwu  art 
full  of  wisdom  and  perfect  in  beauty.  13.  Thou  hast 
been  in  Eden  tlie  garden  of  God :  every  precious  stone 
is  thy  covering,  the  sardius,  topaz,  and  the  diamond,  the 
beryl,  the  onyx,  and  the  jasper,  the  sapphire,  the  eme- 
rald, and  the  carbuncle,  and  gold:  the  workmanship  of 
thy  tabrets  and  thy  pipes  was  prepared  in  thee  in  the  day 
that  thou  wast  created.  14.  Thou  art  the  anointed  che- 
rub that  spreadeth  a  veil ;  and  I  have  permitted  thee : 
thou  wast  in  the  holy  mountain  of  God ;  in  the  midst  of 
the  stones  of  fire  t  diou  walkedst  up  and  down.  15.  Thou 

*  Xhou  art  like  a  signet  of  curious  engraving.']  "  See  Jerem.  xxii.  24.  Hag. 
ii.  23.  Houbigant  observes,  th.it  all  the  ancients  read  n''jan  similitudifiis :  hoc 
est  effigiem,  habens  in  sculptura  sua.  This  is  also  the  reading  of  eight  M.S.S. 
and  of  three  originally.  Dathius  renders,  Tu  e$  annulus  bene  jfiguratus." 
Abp.  Newcome  in  loc. 

'Zv  a.7ros-^pciyiT/if,u,  of<.'3'UTs6)i.  (lxx.)  Tu  sigillwin  es  exemplaris.  (Vers; 
Syriac:)  Tu  signaculuni  siinilitudinis.  (Vers:  Arab  :  et  V<ilg  :)  Tu  siviilis  es 
•casi  figurato,  quod  scite  cotnpositwm  est  et  absolutum  in  pulchritudine  sua  C  h  aid. 
Paraph . 

t  The  stofies  of  fire. '\  An  allusion  to  the  Uriin  and  Thummim  The  Pope 
pretends  to  the  same  oracular  infallibility  of  decision  in  the  Christian  church, 
that  the  Jewish  high-priest  by  his  supernatural  intercourse  with  God  really 
possessed  in  the  Levitical  church.  Josephus  maintains,  that  the  Urion  and 
Thummim  were  the  precious  stones  of  the  high-priest's  breast  plate,  which 
discovered  the  will  of  God  by  their  extraordinary  lustre,  thereby  predicting 
the  success  of  events  to  those  who  consulted  them  :  for,  when  th'  se  stones 
gave  no  extraordinary  lustre,  it  was  concluded  that  God  did  not  approve  of 
the  matter  in  question.  He  adds,  that  it  was  200  years,  at  the  time  of  his 
writing,  since  these  stones  had  left  off"  shewing  this  lustre.  (Ant.  I^  iii.  C.  8.) 


204 

wast  perfect*  in  thy  ways  from  the  day  that  thou  wast 
created,  till  iniquity  was  found  in  thee.  16.  By  the  mul- 
titude of  thy  merchandise  they  have  filled  the  midst  of 
thee  with  violence,  and  thou  hast  sinned  :  therefore  I  will 
cast  thee  as  profane  out  of  the  mountain  of  God,  and  I 
will  destroy  thee,  O  cherub  that  spreadest  a  veil,  from 
the  midst  of  the  stones  of  fire.  17.  Thine  heart  was  lift- 
ed up  because  of  thy  beauty,  thou  hast  corrupted  thy 
wisdom  by  reason  of  thy  brightness :  I  will  cast  thee  to 
the  ground,  I  will  lay  thee  before  kings,  that  they  may  be- 
hold thee.  18.  Thou  hast  defiled  thy  sanctuaries  by  the 
multitude  of  thine  iniquities,  by  the  iniquity  of  thy  traf- 
fic: therefore  will  I  bring  forth  a  fire  from  the  midst  of 
thee,  it  shall  devour  thee  ;  and  I  will  bring  thee  to  ashes 
upon  the  earth  in  the  sight  of  all  them  that  behold  thee. 
19.  All  they  that  know  thee  among  the  people  shall  be 
astonished  at  thee  :  thou  shalt  be  a  terror,  and  never  shalt 
thou  be  any  more. 

20.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying; 
21.  Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  against  Zidonf,  and  prophe- 

It  Is  possible  however,  that  tliis  passai^e  may  relate,  not  only  to  the  oracu- 
lar infallabiUty  of  the  Pope,  but  likewise  to  his  un'fversal  episcopacy.  An  ex- 
pression, soinewliat  similar  to  that  of  voalking  up  and  dovin  in  the  viidst  of  the 
stones  of  fire,  occurs  in  tlie  Apocalypse.  "  Tliese  thing's  saith  he,  that  holdeth 
the  seven  stars  in  liis  rig'ht  hand,  who  waiketh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven 
golden  candlesticks."  (Rev.  ii.  1.)  That  is  to  say,  according' to  the  expla- 
nation of  Archdeacon  Wondhouse,  "  Tlie  supreme  head  of  the  Christian 
church  is  )iow  in  the  act  of  visiting  and  superintending.  To  the  church  of 
Ephesus,  with  which  he  begins,  he  represents  himself  in  that  character  an 
office,  as  walking  amidst  his  churches,  and  directing  and  supporting  thed 
teachers."  (Apoc.  translated,  p.  44.)  I'erhaps  therefore  the  circumstan.ee  ip 
the  mystical  Tyrian  princess  ivalking  up  anddaivn  in  the  ')nidst  of  tlie  stones  of  fire 
may  denote  the  universal  episcopacv  of  the  pretended  -vicar  of  Christ,  who  claims 
the  right  of  superintending- or  ivuliing  amidst  a.\\  the  churches.  In  this  case, 
the  passage  woidd  be  exactly  pn'ullel  to  that,  wherein  Daniel  represents  the 
little  papal  horn  as  having  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man.  "  By  its  eyes,"  says 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  "it  was  a  seer  ;  and,  by  its  mouth  speaking  great  things 
and  changing  times  and  laws,  il  was  a  prophet — A  seer,  eTric-x^Troi^  is  a  bishop 
Ui  the  literal  sense  of  the  word  ;  and  this  church  claims  the  universal  bishop- 
ric."     Observ.  on  Dan.  C.  7. 

*  Thou  wast  perfect."]  Thou  wast  Tlnnnonim,:  a  sort  of  play  upon  the  word 
Thuniviim,  in  its  sense  of  perfection,  not  unusual  among  the  sacred  writers. 

■\ Set  thy  face  against  Zidon.]  If  Zidon  mean  something  different  from 
.  Tyre,  which  perhaps  is  not  very  probable,  we  may  suppose  it  to  typify  the 
>.f>naller  spiritually  trading  states  in  close  connection  with  Home ,-  such  as  the 
German  ecclesiastical  electorates,  episcopal  principalities,  and  monastic  baronies. 
1  think  however,  that  this  distinction  is  a  needless  refinement.  Tyre  was  the 
daughter  of  Zidon,  and  they  are  always  represented  as  most  closely  connect- 
ed together. 


205 

sy  against  her.  22.  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ; 
Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  OZidon;  and  I  will  be  glorifi- 
ed in  the  midst  of  thee :  and  they  shall  know,  that  I  am 
the  Lord,  when  I  shall  have  executed  judgments  in  her, 
and  shall  be  sanctified  in  her.  23.  For  I  will  send  pesti- 
lence into  her,  and  blood  into  her  streets ;  and  the  w^ound- 
ed  shall  be  judged  in  the  midst  of  her  by  the  sword  upon 
her  on  ever}^  side ;  and  they  shall  know,  that  I  am  the 
Lord.  24.  And  unto  the  house  of  Israel  there  shall  be 
no  more  a  thorn  which  causeth  to  rankle,  nor  a  sharp 
thorn  that  causeth  to  ulcerate,  of  all  that  are  round  about 
them  that  despised  them ;  and  they  shall  know,  that  I  am 
the  Lord  God. 

25.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  When  I  shall  have 
gathered  the  house  of  Israel  from  the  people  among  wdiom 
they  have  been  scattered,  and  shall  be  sanctified  in  them 
in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  then  shall  they  dw^U  in  the 
land  which  I  have  given  unto  my  servant,  unto  Jacob. 
26.  And  they  shall  dwell  safely  therein,  and  shall  build 
houses,  and  plant  vineyards;  yea  they  shall  dwell  with 
confidence,  when  I  have  executed  judgments  upon  all 
those  that  despise  them  round  about  them  ;  and  they  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord  their  God. 

COMMENTARY. 

In  the  2Qth  chapter,  Ezekiel  undoubtedly  speaks  of 
the  overthrow  of  the  literal  Tyre  by  Nebuchadnezzar  ; 
but,  in  the  21th  and  2^th  chapters,  he  cannot  mean  the 
literal  Tyre  and  its  prince,  because  their  predicted  over- 
throw is  immediately  connected  v/ith  the  restoration  of 
Israel  *.  Nor  is  this  the  only  reason  :  the  chciracter  of 
the  prince  is  totally  inapplicable  to  any  real  sovereign  of 
ancicjit  Tyre.  He  is  represented  as  having  been  once  a 
faithful  worshipper,  and  as  having  afterwards  apostatized ; 
as  having  been  in  the  holy  mountain  and  paradise  of 

*  See  Ezek.  xxviil.  24,  25,  36.  Mr.  Lowth,  comtpenting'  on  the  pas-sag-e 
there  shall  be  no  more  a  pricking  brier  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  justly  observes, 
that  "the  following'  verse  shews  that  this  promise  chiefly  relates  to  the  gene- 
ral restoration  of  the  ^ews,  when  all  the  enemies  of  God's  church  and  truth 
are  vanquished  and  subdued  ;  often  denoted  in  the  prophetical  writings  by 
the  names  of  Edovi,  Moab,  and  other  neighbouring  countries,  who  upon  afi 
•ccasions  shewed  their  spite  and  ill  will  against  the  ye%i!s." 


206 

God,  or  the  true  church  of  upright  believers  ;  as  having 
once  been  perfect  in  his  ways  ;  and  as  having  at  length 
defiled  his  sanctuaries  by  the  multitude  of  his  iniqui- 
ties and  the  iniquity  of  his  traffic,  or,  in  other  words, 
as  liaving  debased  his  originally  pure  worship  of  God  by 
some  iniquitous  dealings  which  the  prophet  compares  to 
a  fraudulent  and  base  trade.  In  all  this  we  can  perceive 
no  resemblance  to  the  character  of  the  ancient  Tyrian 
:SOvereigns.  Whatever  notions  of  the  true  God  Hiram 
might  have  learned  by  his  intercourse  with  Solomon,  his 
kingdom  by  the  universal  consent  of  history  was  ido- 
latrous from  the  very  first  * ;  and,  whatever  worship 
Hiram  might  pay  to  Jehovah,  we  have  little  reason  to 
doubt  that  he  mingled  it  with  the  worship  of  his  national 
deities.  But,  let  this  be  as  it  may,  it  is  of  very  little  mo- 
ment to  the  present  question  ;  for  the  overthrow  of  Tyre 
and  its  prince^  being  (as  I  have  already  ol)served)  mani- 
festly connected  with  the  restoration  of  Israel  ■\  which  is 
yet  future,  cannot  possibly  relate  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
literal  Tyre  either  by  Nebuchadnezzar  or  Alexander 
which  is  long  since  past.  If  then  it  cannot  relate  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  literal  Tyre  and  its  p?ince,  it  must  relate 
to  the  overthrow  of  some  power  and  some  poteiitate  at  the 
era  of  the  restoration  of  Israel.,  considered  by  the  prophet 
as  antitypical  to  ancient  Tyre  and  its  prince. 

Here  therefore  the  question  is,  JVhat  power  and  what 
prince.,  at  the  time  of  the  end^  can  we  reasonably  suppose 
to  be  intended  in  this  typical  prediction,  to  which  Eze- 
kiel,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient  prophets  |,  glides  as 
it  were  insensiblv  from  his  literal  prediction  respecting 
the  overthrow  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadnezzar  ? 

The  first  idea,  that  will  probably  strike  the  reader,  is, 

*  See  Herod.  Hist.  L.  ii  C.  44.  Ver.  23,  24.  f  See  Chap,  xxvil?. 

\  Similar  instances  of  double  prophecy  occur  in  Isaiah  xiii.  xiv.  1 — 27.  and 
Zephaniah  ii.  13 — 15.  iii.  Tliis  last  prediction  will  I)e  discussed  hereafter  in 
its  proper  place.  Mr.  Lowth,  when  treating  of  Isaiah  x.  20,  very  justly  ob- 
serves, that  "it  is  usual  with  the  prophets,  when  they  foretell  some  extra- 
ordinary event  in  or  near  their  own  times,  to  carry  their  views  on  farther, 
and  point  at  some  g'reater  deliverance  which  Ciod  shall  vouchsafe  to  his  people 
in  the  latter  ag'es  of  the  world."  Much  the  same  remark  Is  made  by  Bp. 
Kurd.  "  The  style  of  the  prophet  so  adapts  itself  to  this  double  prospect,  as 
to  paint  the  near  and  subordinate  event  in  terms  that  emphatically  represent 
t&e  distant  and  more  considerable." 


207 

that  the  anfitypkal  Tyre  must  be  the  great  maritime  and 
commercial  natio7i,  so  frequently  pointed  out,  either  more 
or  less  direct!}^,  as  taking  a  very  active  part  in  the  trou- 
bles of  the  lust  ages,  and  in  the  first  restoration  of  the 
Jexvish  part  of  the  Israelitish  people :  more  especially 
since,  ii  this  maritime  power  itself  be  no  where  else  pre- 
cisely styled  Tyre,  its  navy  is  undoubtedly  typified  by 
the  Tyrian  ships  of  Tarshish  *. 

This  idea,  however  probable  at  the  first  sight,  is  cer- 
tainly erroneous.  The  ajititypical  Tyre  is  to  be  utterly 
destroyed  at  the  era  o^  the  restoration:  the  great  maritime 
power  is  not  then  to  be  destroyed,  but  is  to  be  success- 
fully engaged  in  accomplishing  that  very  restoration. 
The  antitypical  Tyre  is  plainly  described  as  a  persecutor, 
as  the  principal  persecutor,  of  the  Jews;  for,  when  it  is 
overthrown,  then  the  rankling  and  ulcerating  thorn  shall 
cease  for  ever  to  afQict  the  children  oj' Israel :  the  great 
maritime  power  is  employed  in  the  honourable  office  of 
carrj^ing  God's  message  to  his  people ;  of  taking  them 
under  the  shadow  of  its  wings ;  and  of  bringing  their 
sons  from  far,  not  spoiled,  but  their  gold  and  silver  with 
them,  in  a  navy  that  securely  bids  defiance  to  all  the  op- 
position of  their  enemies  j.  The  antitypical  Tyre  is  some 
state  or  empire,  that  once  professed  pure  religion,  but  at 
the  era  of  the  restoration  had  notoriously  apostatized  from 
it :  the  great  maritime  power  is  plainly  a  nation  of  faith- 
ful worshippers,  as  sufficiently  appears  from  the  prophe- 
cies respecting  it  that  have  been  already  considered.  Fi- 
nally, Daniel  and  St.  John  give  us  jointly  a  very  full  list 
of  all  the  states  and  superstitions  that  are  to  be  over- 
thrown together  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  which 
Daniel  assures  us  is  likewise  the  era  of  the  incipient  res- 
toration of  Jiidah  and  Israel.  These  are  the  ten-horned 
beast  u?ider  its  last  head,  or  the  papal  Roman  empire  linger 
the  line  of  the  Carlovingian  princes ;  its  little  horn,  which 
is  the  same  as  the  second  apocalyptic  beast  ^\\&  false  pro- 
phet, or  the  spiritual  empire  of  the  Papacy  ;  the  infidel 
king,  or  Antichristian  France,  now  identified  with  the 
kst  head  of  the  Roman  beast ;  the  kings  of  the  earthy  or 

*  Isaiiffe  he.  9.  t  See  Isaiak  xviii.  atid  Ix.  8,  9 


208 

the  vassal  sovereigns  of  the  Lattn  empire  ;  and  the  little 
horn  of  the  he-goaty  or  the  false  religion  of  Mohammed*. 
Now  among  all  these  we  find  not  a  single  power ^  that  at 
all  answers  to  the  chai'acter  of  the  great  maritime  nation 
of  faithful  worshippers  ;  and  we  further  find  it  implied, 

*  One  great  branch  of  Mohammedisin,  the  Titrkisk  empire,  will  be  over- 
thrown under  the  sixth  apocalyptic  vial,  and  tlierefore  previous  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Antichristia/i  corfederacy,  which  will  take  place  under  the  seventh  : 
and,  as  for  the  religion  of  Mohammed  itself,  I  cannot  find  any  positive  declara- 
tion that  the  professors  of  it  will,  in  a  national  capacity,  join  tlie  armies  of  the  in- 
fidel king.  Daniel  speaks  of  it,  as  being-,  at  the  time  of  the  end,  broken  ivithout 
hand,  (Dan.  viii.  17,  25.)  This  expression  is  ambiguous:  ai:d  ma}  either  mean, 
that  it  shall  be  (as  it  were)  practically  confuted  and  silenced  by  the  manifes- 
tation of  Christ,  against  whom  Mohammed  had  presumed  to  stand  tip  (Com- 
pare Dan.  ii.  34,  35, 44,  45.)  ;  or  it  may  mean,  that  it  shall  gradually  lall  away 
to  nothing- by  the  desertion  of  its  votaries,  and  thus  die  a  sort  of  natural  death. 
The  exhaustion  of  the  mystic  Euphrates  will  no  doubt  greatly  weaken  it:  and 
it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  even  in  these  eventful  times,  that  a  sect  has 
lately  made  its  appearance  in  the  very  country  of  the  false  Arabian  prophet, 
■which  threatens  no  less  than  the  destruction  of  his  rehgion  itself  The  JVaha- 
bees  are  infidels  ;  and  their  numbers  are  daily  increasing.  Their  opinions  have 
been  propagated  near  sixty  years ;  and  they  at  length  find  themselves  strong 
enough  to  take  up  arms  in  their  defence.  It  is  said,  that  they  occupy  the 
greatest  part  of  the  country  which  extends  from  Medi'na  to  the  Euphrates. 
Their  last  exploit,  of  which  we  have  recently  received  an  account,  shews 
their  decided  hostility  to  Mohaonmedism  in  a  very  striking  point  of  view. 
Having  reinforced  their  army  from  the  desert,  and  having  overwhelmed  the 
whole  adjacent  country,  they  suddenly  assaulted  and  took  the  city  oi  Medina 
with  infinite  bloodshed  and  devastation.  They  set  fire  to  it  in  various  places  ; 
destroyed  the  mosques,  after  having  ransacked  them  of  their  valuable  shrines 
and  treasures  ;  and  completely  demolished  the  tomb  of  the  'prophet.  Some 
thousands  of  females  of  the  first  rank  were  carried  off  by  the  besiegers  into 
the  desert,  with  a  number  of  the  principal  male  inhabitants.  A  troop  of 
camels  was  also  sent  away  with  jewels  and  other  treasure  to  an  immense 
amount.     See  Morning  Post,  Feb.  22,  1806. 

The  following  account  of  the  Wahabees  is  given  in  a  very  curious  work  re- 
cently published  by  Mr.  Waring. 

"  The  founder  of  this  religion,  Ubdool  Wuhab,  was  a  native  of  Ujunu,  a 
town  in  the  province  of  Ool  tlrud.  Some  have  been  of  opinion,  that  Moola 
Moohumviud,  the  son  of  Ubdool  Wuhab,  was  the  first  person  who  promulgate 
ed  doctrines  subversive  of  the  Mussulman  faith.  However  this  may  be,  it  is 
certain  that  one  or  other  of  these  persons  was  the  founder  of  the  religion  of 
the  Wuhabees ;  and  the  name  inclines  me  to  believe  Ubdool  Wuhab.  Both 
these  persons  w^ere  great  travellers.  They  studied  under  the  principal  Mo- 
hammedan doctors  at  Bussora  and  at  Bagdad ;  and  afterwards  went  to  Da- 
inascus,  where  Ubdool  Wuhab  first  began  to  avow  his  religious  principles. 
The  priests  were  alarmed  at  the  tendency  of  his  doctrines  ;  he  was  obliged 
to  fly  from  this  city  ;  and,  on  his  arrival  at  Mousul,  he  publicly  supported  the 
purity,  excellence,  and  orthodoxy,  of  his  tenets.  This  new  religion,  which 
had  sprung  up  in  the  midst  of  Arabia,  excited  the  attention  and  roused  the 
indignation  of  the  orthodox  Sheikhs,  who  could  not  bear  the  notion  of  the 
Wuhabees  ridiculing  with  contempt  the  legends  and  tales  whicli  they  so  con- 
scientiously believed.  The  Wuhabees  are  accused  of  professing  the  follow- 
ing belief:  That  there  is  one  just  and  luise  God;  that  all  those  persons  called  pro' 
phets  are  only  to  be  co?isidered  as  just  and  virtuous  onen  ;  and  that  there  never 
existed  an  inspired  ivork  7ior  an  inspired  ivriter.     A  party  of  the  Wuhabees  last 


209 

that  all,  who  have  come  out  of  the  mystic  Babylon  and 
have  separated  themselves  from  her,  shall  not  partake  of 
her  plagues*.     Such  being  the  case,  and  such  likewise 

year  (1802)  attacked  Xnrbulu,  celebrated  among  the  Persians  as  being  tlie 
burial  place  of  the  sons  of  Ali ;  destroyed  tlie  tombs  ;  and  plundered  the  towa 
and  pilgrims.  1  met  several  of  the  people  who  had  been  there  at  that  period, 
and  they  all  agreed  in  complaining  most  bitterly  of  the  cruelty  of  the  reform-v 
ers.  It  must  be  recollected  that  the  destruction  of  the  holy  sepulchres  would 
alone  be  considered  as  an  enormous  act  of  impiety  and  cruelty.  The  force 
of  the  Wuhabees  is  very  considerable,  probably  eighty  or  ninety  thousand ; 
and,  as  their  expeditions  are  conducted  with  great  celerity  and  secrecy,  they 
keep  all  the  neiglibouring  countries  in  perpetual  apprehension. — Since  finish- 
ing this,  inteUigence  has  been  received  of  their  having  attacked  and  plunder- 
ed TyetJ,  Mecca,  and  Medina.  They  have,  in  consequence,  violated  the  sacred 
law  which  forbids  armed  men  approaching  within  a  certain  distance  of  the 
temple.  Thus  have  they  destroyed  the  foundation  stone  of  Mo  hammed  ism  ; 
and  this  miglity  fabric,  which  at  one  period  bade  defiance  to  all  Europe,  falls, 
on  the  first  attack,  at  the  feet  of  an  Arab  reformer.  The  event  may  make  a 
gieat  change  in  the  Moliammedan  world  ;  for  it  appears  to  me  almost  certain, 
that  the  pilgrimages  to  Mecca  liave  had  nearly  as  great  an  effect  in  support- 
ing this  rehgion  as  the  first  victories  and  conquests  of  Mohaonmed— The 
Wuhabees  are  now  a  considerable  people,  sufficiently  powerful  to  resist  the 
divided  eftorts  of  the  Turks,  whose  power  in  Arabia  must  decrease  in  pro- 
portion to  the  aggrandisement  of  this  roving  race  of  reformers.  Indeed  the 
Turks  have  already  found  it  expedient  to  court  and  even  purchase  the  friend- 
ship of  their  Arab  subjects.  They  have  extended  their  depredations  over  the 
greatest  part  of  Arabia  ;  tlie  fate  of  Bassora  may  be  said  to  depend  upon  the 
clemency  of  the  conqueror,  or  rather  on  liis  being  engaged  in  other  pursuits. 
Many  places  in  the  Red  sea  have  been  obliged  to  purchase  the  good  will  of 
the  reformer."     Tour  to  Sheeraz,  p.  119—125. 

In  the  tinie  of  Niebuhr  this  sect  of  infidels  was  in  its  infancy.  *'  Some  time 
since,"  says  he,  "a  new  religion  sprang  up  in  the  district  of  El  Ared.  It  has 
already  produced  a  revolution  in  the  government  of  Arabia,  and  will  probably 
hereafter  influence  the  state  of  this  country  still  farther.  The  founder  of 
this  religion  was  one  Abd  ul  Wahheb,  a  native  of  Aijiene,  a  town  in  the  district 
of  El  Ared— Abd  ul  Wahheb  taught,  that  God  is  the  only  object  of  worship 
and  invocation,  as  the  creator  and  governor  of  the  world.  He  forbade  the 
invocation  of  saints  and  tlie  very  mentioning  of  Mohammed  or  any  other  pro- 
phet  in  prayer,  as  practices  savouring  of  idolatry.  He  considered  Moham- 
med, yesus  Christ,  Moses,  and  many  others  respected  by  the  Sunnites  in  the 
character  of  prophets,  as  merely  great  men  whose  history  might  be  read  with 
improvement ;  denying,  that  any  book  had  ever  been  written  by  divine  inspi- 
ration, or  brought  down  from  heaven  by  the  angel  Gabriel."  Travels,  vol.  ii. 
p.  131,  134. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that,  as  the  two  apostasies  of  Popery  and 
Moham-medism,  arose  together  in  the  same  year  and  attained  their  zenith  at 
the  same  period,  so  Voltaire  should  have  begun  systematically  to  propagate 
his  infidel  principles  in  the  west  exactly  about  the  same  time  that  Abd  ul 
Wahheb  began  to  advance  nearly  the  same  doctrines  in  the  east.  So  many 
curious  coincidences  serve  to  confirm  my  opinion,  that  Daniel's  two  little 
horns  are  the  two  apostasies  of  Popery  and  Mohammedism,  and  that  the  year 
606  is  the  most  probable  date  of  the  1260  years. 

Sliotild  the  sect  of  the  Wahabees  continue  to  increase  in  numbers,  Mohant- 
medism  must  fall  eventually  by  mere  force  of  opinion.  If  its  votaries  gradu- 
ally abandon  it,  we  may  easily  conceive  how,  at  the  tim,e  of  the  end,  it  will  be 
broken  without  hand. 

*  "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and 
that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues"  (Rev.  xviii.  4).    Hence  apparently  we 

27 


210 

being  the  office  of  the  great  maritime  power  at  the  time  of 
the  end,  we  cannot  reasonably  or  consistently  with  pro- 
phecy suppose,  that  it  is  destined  to  perish  in  the  com- 
mon wreck  of  Popish,  Infidel,  and  Mohammedan,  na- 
tions :  and  therefore  we  of  course  cannot  suppose  it  to  be 
the  antitypical  Tyre,  which  does  then  perish. 

Hitherto  the  question  has  only  been  answered  nega- 
tively, we  must  now  endeavour  to  answer  it  positively. 
Since  we  have  no  sufficient  ground  to  think,  tliat  the  list, 
which  Daniel  and  St.  John  give  us,  of  those  enemies  of 
God,  who  aie  destined  to  fall  at  the  close  of  the  1260 
years  is  imperfect ;  ^ve  are  obliged  to  conclude,  that  the 
antitypical  Tyre,  which  Ezekiel  represents  as  falling  at 
the  very  same  period  or  the  period  of  the  incipient  resto- 
ration of  Israel,  is  some  one  or  other  of  those  enemies. 
But  how  can  the  maritime  Tyre  be  a  fit  type  of  any  of 
those  nations,  when  they  are  all  (even  according  to  my 
owTi  interpretation)  continental poxvers,  and  when  their  last 
expedition  into  Palestine  (even  according  to  my  own  opi- 
nion) is  to  be  undertaken  by  land,  because  the  decided 
superiority  of  the  great  naval  state  prevents  them  from 
undertaking  it  by  sea  ? 

To  this  I  answer,  that  either  a  nation  or  a  thing  may  be 
used  as  a  type  of  direct  opposites,  according  to  the  light 
in  which  they  are  viewed  by  the  sacred  writer  who  uses 
them.  Thus  the  serpent  and  the  lion  are  at  once  types 
of  Christ  and  Sata7i,  of  the  clean  and  the  unclean :  and 
3'et  no  confusion  arises  from  this  circumstance,  because 
the  context  always  sufficiently  shews  the  light  in  which 
the  writer  views  his  type.  When  we  are  directed  to 
look  up  to  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness  for  salvation,  we 
are  in  no  danger  of  supposing  that  the  devil  is  meant ; 
we  at  once  see  plainly,  that  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  was 
the  only  characteristic  in  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  therefore  that  the  serpent  considered  in  that  point  of 
view  was  a  fit  type  of  the  divine  TVisdom,  the  eternal 
Logos.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  temper  appears  un- 
der the  form  of  a  so-pent,  and  when  St.  John  styles  the 

must  conclude,  that  all  such  as  do  come  out  of  her  will  not  receive  of  her 
plagues  ;  provided  only  they  have  refrained  from  defiling  themselves  with 
the  atheistical  abominations  iyi  Antichrist.     See  2  Pet.  ii.  18. 


211 

devil  tluit  old  serpent^  we  are  in  as  little  danger  of  sup- 
posing that  Christ  is  meant;  we  immediately  see,  that 
the  had  qualities  of  the  sequent  were  alone  in  the  contem- 
plation of  the  writer  ;  his  perverted  wisdom  or  his  cun- 
ning whereby  he  deceiveth  the  whole  world,  the  deadly 
malignity  of  his  poison,  and  the  subtlety  with  which  he 
attacks  his  unsuspecting  prey.  In  a  similar  manner,  when 
Christ  is  styled  the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Jiidah  ;  the  cou- 
rage, the  strength,  the  activity,  the  generosity,  of  that 
animal  are  solely  considered  :  and,  when  the  devil  is  des 
cribed  as  a  roaiing  and  a  rainping  lion  goitig  about  ir* 
search  of  whom  he  may  devour  ;  the  ferocity  of  the  lion, 
his  rapacity,  his  mode  of  lying  in  wait  for  his  prey,  the 
suddenness  with  which  he  springs  upon  it,  the  ^^•onder- 
ful  strength  with  which  he  holds  it  in  his  gripe,  his  prowl- 
ing about  in  darkness,  are  as  evidently  his  only  proper- 
ties which  engage  the  attention  of  the  writer  *".     This 
being  the  case,  Tijre  may  be  used  as  a  type  either  of  a 
great  commercial  nation  of  faithful  worshippers^  or  of  a 
great  superstitious  empire  xvhich  drives  an  iniquitGus  traf- 
fic in  indulgences^  pardons^  relics  and  such  like  trumpery  / 
just  as  the  writer  considers  the  vast  commerce  of  ancient 
Tyre  literally  or  mystically.     In  what  light  he  does  con- 

*  "  As  clean  and  unclean  animals  are  not  realities  of  good  and  evil,  but 
only  fig-ures  ;  notliing'  hinders,  but  that,  like  other  figures,  they  should  sig- 
nify differently,  when  under  some  different  acceptation  :  as  the  same  object, 
according  to  every  new  direction  of  the  light  that  falls  upon  it,  will  project  a 
different  shadow. 

"My  meaning  will  be  best  e?:plained  by  some  examples  borrowed  from" 
the  style  of  the  Holy  Scripture.  Water,  as  a  medium  of  purification,  is  a  fit 
image  of  the  Spirit  of  regeneration  in  baptism,  which  washes  away  sin  :  but, 
in  its  capacity  of  overflowing  bodies  with  its  waves,  it  becomes  a  figure  of 
affliction,  destruction,  and  even  death  itself.  The  same  water,  which  bore  up 
the  ark  of  Noah  in  safety,  and  exhibited  a  pattern  of  the  salvation  of  the  Chris- 
tian Clmrch,  destroyed  the  world  of  the  ungodly.  The  light  ofthesun'is  be- 
neficial to  the  whole  creation,  and  is  emblematic  of  that  divine  light  of  life, 
which  enlightens  every  man  that  coraeth  into  the  world  :  but  the  parching 
heat  (if  its  rays  is  used  in  the  parables  of  Christ  to  express  the  fiery  trial  of 
persecution  and  tribulation  for  the  triith's  sake. 

"  With  the  same  variety  of  allusion,  and  withovit  any  danger  of  impropriety 
or  confusion  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  the  lion,  considered  as  a  hvmgry 
and  blood-thirsty  beast  of  prey,  is  an  image  oi  the  devil,  who  as  a  roaring  lion 
lualketh  about  seeking  ivhom  he  inay  devour.  But,  in  regard  to  his  strength, 
power,  generosity,  and  the  majesty  of  his  countenance,  he  is  highly  expres- 
sive of  t^e  re^a/ cAflrocfer,  and  is  therefore  assumed  to  dewoie  the  po^ver  and 
majesty  of  Christ  himself  the  lion  of  the  tribe  ofjudah."  Jones's  Works,  voV. 
iii.  p.  108. 


h2 

sider  it  iii  any  particular  instance,  we  must  be  tauglit  by 
the  context. 

The  context  then  in  the  present  instance  teaqhes  us, 
that  Ezekiel,  in  the  description  of  his  ajititypical  Tyre, 
does  not  mean  literal  but  mystical^  commerce:  because 
the  antityfncal  Tyre  is  some  one  of  God's  enemies  who 
perish  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years^  and  not  one  of  those 
enemies  holds  the  rank  in  the  modern  commercial  Avorld, 
that  Tyre  did  in  the  ancient;  they  all  being  continental 
powers,  and  some  state  decidedly  in  opposition  to  them 
being  the  great  maritime  power  of  the  day,  and  conse- 
quently {\i  literal  commerce  be  considered)  in  that  point 
of  view  being  the  antitype  of  Tyre  likewise. 

But  one  prophecy,  relative  to  any  given  period,  will  al- 
ways be  best  explained  by  other  parallel  prophecies  rela- 
tive to  the  same  period.  Do  we  find  then,  that  any  one 
of  the  powers,  destined  to  fall  at  the  close  of  the  1260 
years  and  at  the  era  of  the  restoratioji  of  the  Jews,  is 
elsewhere  described  under  the  same  imagery  that  Eze- 
kiel uses  to  depict  the  antitypical  Tyre?  If  we  do,  the 
union  of  chronological  coincidence  and  symbolical  ima- 
gery will  afford  us  as  much  certainty  as  perhaps,  can  be 
attained  in  these  matters,  that  the  antitypical  Tyre  is  in- 
tended for  the  power  thus  perishing  at  the  same  era  and 
thus  similarly  described. 

Now  it  is  remarkable,  that  St.  John,  as  if  to  teach  us 
the  right  inteqDre cation  of  this  typical  prediction  of  Eze- 
kiel, purposely  uses  the  very  same  imagery  to  rejjresent 
the  downfal  of  the  papal  Babylon.  If  Tyre  be  exhibited 
as  a  great  trading  city  in  Ezekiel;  so  is  Babylon  in  the 
Apocalypse.  If  the  merchandise  of  Tyre  be  gold,  silver, 
iron,  all  precious  stones,  purple,  broidered  work,  fine 
linen,  ivory,  ebony,  vessels  of  brass,  the  chief  of  all 
spices,  cassia,  calamus,  honey,  oil,  balm,  wheat,  wine, 
w^ool,  lambs,  rams,  goats,  horses,  mules,  precious  clothes 
for  chariots,  horsemen,  and  the  souls  of  men ;  so  is  the 
merchandise  of  Babylon  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  and  pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  silk, 
and  scarlet,  and  all  thyine  wood,  and  all  manner  of  vessels 
of  ivory,  and  all  manner  of  vessels  of  most  precious  wood, 
and  of  brass,  and  iron,  and  marble,  and  cinnamon,  and 


213 

©doiirs,  and  ointments,  and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and 
oil,  and  fine  flour,  and  wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and 
horses,  and  chariots,  and  slaves,  and  souls  of  men.  If 
the  wares  of  Tyre  filled  many  people,  and  enriched  the 
kings  of  the  earth ;  so  the  kings  of  the  earth,  those  great 
ones  who  were  the  merchants  of  Babylon,  waxed  rich 
through  the  abundance  of  her  delicacies.  If  they  of  Per- 
sia, and  of  Lud,  and  of  Phut,  enrolled  themselves  in  the 
armies  of  7)/r^,and  became  her  men  of  war;  so  the  ten 
Roman  horns  gave  for  a  season  their  strength  and  power 
to  Babylon^  and  contributed  all  their  force  to  uphold  the 
empire  of  the  beast.  If  Tyre  proudly  sit  at  the  entrance 
of  the  sea,  and  her  prince  in  the  midst  of  the  seas;  so 
Babylon  is  the  great  Avhore,  that  sitteth  upon  many 
waters.  If  all  the  merchants  and  mariners  of  Tyre  be- 
wail her  fall,  saying,  TVhat  city  is  like  Tyre,  like  the  de- 
stroyed in  the  midst  of  the  sea  ?  so  all  the  merchants  and 
shipmasters  of  Babylon  exclaim,  weeping  and  wailing, 
IVhat  city  is  like  unto  this  great  city?  If  the  kings  are 
sore  afraid  on  account  of  the  overthrow  of  Tyre;  so  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  when  they  see  the  smoke  of  Babylon^ 
stand  afar  off"  for  fear  of  her  torment,  saying,  Alas,  Alas, 
that  great  city  Babylon,  that  mighty  city,  for  in  one  hour 
is  thy  judgment  come!  If  Tyre  is  to  become  a  terror,  and 
never  to  be  any  more ;  so  Babylon  is  to  be  violently  thrown 
down,  and  to  be  found  no  more  at  all.  Lastly,  as  Eze- 
kiel,  by  connecting  the  fall  of  the  antitypical  Tyre  with 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  plainly  shews  us,  that  he  can- 
not mean  the  literal  Tyre;  and  yet  leaves  it  uncertain 
whether  we  are  to  understand  her  commerce  literally  or 
mystically:  so  St.  John,  while  he  effectually  precludes 
the  possibility  of  our  mistaking  the  antitypical  Babylon 
for  the  literal  Babylon,  chooses  this  city  rather  than  Tyre^ 
as  a  type  of  the  power  which  he  is  describing,  in  order  to 
shew  us,  that  no  common  trade  is  intended,  but  some 
mystic  trade  for  which  the  power  in  question  was  notori- 
ous ;  Babylon  never  having  been,  like  Tyre,  a  commercial 
city,  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  words. 

Thus  we  see,  that  a  power,  destined  to  perish  at  the 
close  of  the  1260  years,  and  consequently  at  the  era  of  the 
restoration  of  the  Jexvs,  is  represented  by  St.  John  under 


2U 

the  image  of  a  great  trading  city ;  and  tliat  a  porucr,  like- 
vise  destined  to  perish  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jezvsy  is  represented  by  Ezekiel  under  the  very  same 
imsigc  oi  a  great  tradifig  citt/:  whence,  I  think,  it  must 
necessarily  follo-w  that  the  same  power  is  intended  by  both 
those  prophets.  But  that  Babylon  is  the  spiritual  empire 
of  the  Papacy^ ^  and  that  her  ti-affic  relates  to  the  sale 
of  relics  and  indulgences^  to  the  gainful  absurdities  of  pur- 
gatory^ and  to  the  pompously  ridiculous  .worship  of  the 
Romish  churchy  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted:  Tyre 
therefore,  and  her  trafficy  must  mean  the  same  ?nonsfrous 
superstition^  and  the  same  nefarious  trade.  As  if  indeed 
to  give  us  a  clear  insight  into  the  nature  of  this  trade^ 
both  Tyre  and  Babylon  are  equally  said  to  deal  in  the 
souls  of  men. 

Ezekiel  however  does  not  only  give  us  a  most  ample 
description  of  the  antitypical  Tyre^  but  likewise  a  no  less 
ample  and  particular  one  of  her  prince ;  consequently,  if 
I  be  right  in  supposing  Tyre  to  mean  the  spiritual  em- 
pire of  the  Papacy  y  the  prince  of  Tyre  must  necessarily 
mean  the  Pope.  Do  we  find  then,  that  the  character  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  accords  with  the  character  of  this 
prince  ? 

The  heart  of  the  prince  is  so  lifted  up,  that  he  declai'es 
himself  to  be  a  god,  that  he  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  God  in 
the  midst  of  the  seas,  that  he  sets  his  heart  as  the  heart  of 
God.  The  papal  man  of  sin  sitteth  as  God  in  the  tem- 
ple of  God,  shewing  himself  that  he  is  God;  he  is  wor- 
shipped by  his  cardinals  on  the  day  of  his  inauguration, 
proudlv  seated  on  the  altai'  of  the  Lord;  he  styles  him- 
self the  Lord  God,  another  god  upon  earth,  king  of  kings, 
and  lord  of  lords ;  he  places  himself,  as  it  was  predicted 
his  symbol  the  little  Roman  ho?'n  should  do,  by  the  side 
of  the  most  High,  affecting  an  equality  with  God;  he  sits 
in  the  seat  of  God,  claiming  to  be  his  vice-gerent  upon 
earth;  he  sits  upon  many  waters,  or  rules  by  the  influ- 

*  The  apocalyptic  Babylon,  or  the  great  city,  is  the  luhole  papal  Roinaii  em- 
pire, temporal  and  spiritual.  Hence  it  is  exhibited  to  vis  under  the  compound 
&ymho\  o{ a  harlot  riding  upon  a  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  beast;  the  harlot 
represcntiug  the  spiritual  Babylon,  which  is  the  same  as  the  spiritual  Tyre  here 
described  by  Ezekiel ;  and  the  beast,  the  temporal  Babylon. 


215 

dice  of  a  tyrannical  superstition  over  peoples,  and  multi- 
tudes, and  nations,  and  tongues — The  prince  is  told  by 
the  Almighty,  in  a  strain  of  lofty  and  contemptuous  irony,, 
that  he  is  wiser  than  Daniel,  that  there  is  no  secret  which 
they  can  hide  from  him.      The  Pope  is  wont  to  boast  of 
his  infallibility,  and  therefore  claims  a  degree  of  know- 
ledge equal  to  inspiration — The  prince  amasses  vast  riches 
by  his  wisdom,  and  his  traffic.  No  set  of  men  have  been 
so  distinguished  for  their  policy  as  the  Popes,  by  which 
they  gradually  acquired  the  astonishing  influence  which 
they  once  possessed  in  Europe:  and  they  have  been 
equally  distinguished  for  their  infamous  spiritual  trade  in 
relics  and  indulgences,  and  in  masses  to  deliver  souls  out 
of  purgatory,  by  which  an  immense  revenue  accrued  to 
them  from  every  country  under  their  control — The  heart 
of  the  prince  was  lifted  up  because  of  his  riches  and  power. 
The  little  papal  horn  had  a  mouth  speaking  great  things ; 
and  his  insolence  arose  to  such  a  pitch,  that  he  would  not 
have  even  kings  to  be  familiar  with  him,  but  boasted  that 
he  possessed  the  power  of  deposing  both  kings  and  em- 
perors, bestriding  like  some  huge  colossus  the  globe 
itself  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power — The  prince  is  said 
to  be  an  anointed  cherub.  If  a  cheriih  mean  one  of  the  su- 
perior order  of  angels,  the  import  of  the  expression  will 
be,  that  the  person  typified  by  the  prince  should  be  a 
chief-bishop,  an  angel  in  the  language  of  symbols  denot- 
•  ing  a  bishop  or  principal  minister  ofreligioji;  nay,  that  he 
should  be  more  than  a  chief-bishop,  that  he  should  be 
a  prince -bishop,  one  that  united  in  his  own  character  the 
two  functions  of  temporal  and  spiritual  sovereignty.    If, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  be  any  truth  in  the  opinion  of 
some  learned  men,  that  a  cherub  is  an  hieroglyphical 
representation  of  God  himself,  and  that  the  word  signi- 
fies a  resemblance  of  the  mighty  One  *;  then  the  per- 
son typified  by  the  prince  will  be  some  one  who  holds 
himself  forth  as  the  resemblance  and  representative  of 
the  Deity.     In  either  case,  it  is  obvious  how  accurately 
the  character  of  the  Pope  is  delineated  by  the  term  cw 
mwirUed  cherub.     He  is  a  chief  aiigel,  or  a  metropolitan 

*  See  Parlthurst's  Hebrew  Lexicon,  Vox  aii- 


216 

iii  the  church ;  he  is  an  anointed  chief-angel^  or  a  prince- 
metropolitan  ;  he  claims  to  be  the  representative  of  the 
Deity  :  he  is  exhibited  in  paintings  as  God  ;  and,  when 
the  Romanists  impiously  depict  the  Almighty,  he  appears 
as  an  old  man  with  a  triple  crown  on  his  head*. — The 
prince  is  further  said  to  be  an  anointed  cherub  that 
spreadeth  a  veil.  The  word,  here  used  by  the  prophet 
to  describe  the  action  of  the  anointed  cherub,  is  the 
same  as  that  which  Isaiah  uses,  when  he  declares,  that,  in 
the  last  days,  at  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Israel, 
God  will  destroy  in  his  holy  mountain  the  face  of  the 
covering  that  is  cast  over  all  the  peoples,  and  the  veil 
that  is  spread  over  all  the  nations  f.  The  veil  therefore, 
which  God  will  then  destroy,  is  the  veil,  which  the  anoint- 
ed cherub  had  long  been  employed  in  spreading ;  that  is 
to  say,  it  is  the  veil  of  gross  ignorance  which  the  Popes 
had  long  and  successfully  been  labouring  to  spread  over 
the  face  of  all  men.  Finding  Scripture  altogether  against 
them  in  their  controversies  with  the  protestants,  "  the 
Popes^''  says  Mosheim,  "  permitted  their  champions  to 
indulge  themselves  openly  in  reflections  injurious  to  the 
dignity  of  the  sacred  writings,  and,  by  an  excess  of  blas- 
phemy almost  incredible  (if  the  passions  of  men  did  not 
render  them  capable  of  the  greatest  enormities),  to  de- 
clare publicly,  that  the  edicts  of  the  pontiff's,  and  the 
records  of  oral  tradition,  were  superior  in  point  of  autho- 
rity to  the  express  language  of  the  Holy  Scriptures." 
And.  in  perfect  accordance  with  such  impiety,  the  church 
of  Rome,  the  mystic  Tyre  of  which  the  Pope  is  the  prince, 
obstinately  affirms,  as  the  same  historian  observes,  that 
*'  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  not  composed  for  the  use  of 
the  multitude,  but  only  for  that  of  their  spiritual  teach- 
ers ;  and,  of  consequence,  has  ordered  these  divine  re- 
cords to  be  taken  from  the  people  in  all  places,  where  it 
was  allowed  to  execute  its  imperious  commands." — The 
prince  was  full  of  violence  by  reason  of  the  multitude  of 
his  merchandise,  and  defiled  his  sanctuaries  by  the  mul- 
titude of  his  iniquities  and  the  iniquity  of  his  traffic.  The 

•  See  the  plate  opposite  p.  413  of  the  Breviarium,  Homamnn  Antverpiae 
1698.  A  full  account  of  it  is  g'iven  in  the  Supplement  to  Burton's  Essay  on  thf 
numbers  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  p.  96,  97. 

f  Issued  XXV.  7. 


217 

Pope  is  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  who  protested  against  the  scan- 
dalous spiritual  trade  which  he  was  carrying  on:  and  even 
his  chief  sanctuary,  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  was  polluted 
by  the  same  vile  traffic,  Leo  having  recourse  to  an  unli- 
mited sale  of  indulgences  to  raise  money  for  the  erection 
of  it — Yet  was  the  prince  once  perfect  in  his  ways  from 
the  day  that  he  was  created ;  he  was  once  in  Eden  the 
garden  of  God  ;  he  was  once  in  the  holy  mountain  of  the 
Lord  ;  and,  the  prophet  adds,  speaking  as  a  Jew  in  allu- 
sion to  the  precious  stones  of  Uiim  and  Thummim  on  the 
breast-plate  of  the  high-priest,  he  once  walked  up  and 
down  in  the  midst  of  the  stones  of  fire  *.    The  Popes  fell 
by  degrees  from  the  purity  and  perfection  of  primitive 
Christianity  to  their  present  steite  of  depravity  and  apos- 
tasy.    Clemens,  one  of  the  earliest  Bishops  of  Rome,  is 
declared  by  an  apostle  to  have  his  name  written  in  the 
book  of  life.      The  Popes  then  were  once  in  the  holy 
mountain  of  God,  in  the  inclosed  garden  of  his  Church, 
till  iniquity  was  found  in  them,  till  their  hearts  were  lift- 
ed up  because  of  their  beauty,  till  they  corrupted  their 
wisdom  by  reason  of  their  brightness,  till  they  wandered 
into  the  wilderness  of  ignorance  and  error  and  worldly- 
mindedness  and  heresy  f- — After  the  prince  had  fallen 
from  his  perfection,  he  exhibited  himself  as  one  of  the 
great  ones  of  the  earth.     Every  precious  stone  was  his 
covering,  the  sardius,  topaz,  and  the  diamond,  the  bery], 
the  onyx,  and  the  jasper,  the  sapphire,  the  emerald,  tie 
carbuncle,  and  gold.     Instead  of  making  melody  in  his 
heart  to  the  Lord,  he  delighted  himself  in  a  pompous 
pageantiy  of  worshijD,  in  the  sound  of  tabrets  and  pipee. 
And  the  prophet  adds,  that  even  this  was  prepared  in  him 
from  the  very  day  that  he  was  created,  although  he  was 
originally  perfect  in  his  ways.    The  Pope,  after  his  apos- 
tasy, sought  to  cover  his  spiritual  nakedness  with  splen- 
did attire  and  gaudy  devotion.     He  arrayed  himself  in 

*  "  Such  was  thy  eminent  distinction,  that  thou  wast,  as  it  were,  placed 
in  the  temple  of  God  on  his  holy  mountain.  Thou  wast,  as  it  were,  conver- 
sant among  the  twelve  precious  stones  on  the  breast-plate  of  the  high-priest, 
which  shone  like  fire."     ISIr.  Lowth  in  loc, 

I  Rev.  xvii.  1,  2,  3. 

28 


^18- 

purple  and  scarlet,  and  decked  himself  with  gold  and 
precious  stones  and  pearls  *.  He  allured  his  votaries 
with  the  charms  of  music  and  the  multifarious  rites  of  a 
splendid  superstition  f.  Though  six  centuries  elapsed  ere 
the  man  of  sin  was  revealed,  the  mystery  of  iniquity  was 
already  working  even  in  the  apostolic  age  %,  *'  The  seeds 
of  corruption  were  sown,  but  they  were  not  yet  grown 
up  to  any  maturity.  The  leaven  was  fermenting  in  some 
parts,  but  it  was  far  from  having  yet  infected  the  whole 
mass  §." 

We  have  seen  how  accurately  the  character  of  the  mys- 
fie  prince  of  Tyre  answers  to  that  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome; 
and  we  may  safely  ^  enture  to  assert,  that  there  is  no  other 
potentate  of  these  last  days,  either  popish  or  protestant, 
to  whom  the  character  will  at  all  answer  :  let  us  now  at- 
tend to  the  predicted  time  and  method  of  his  overthrow- 
When  the  prince  shall  perish,  there  shall  be  no  more  a 
rankling  thorn  to  the  house  of  Israel  of  all  those  that  de- 
spised them  ;  but  they  shall  be  gathered  to  their  own  land 
from  the  people  among  whom  they  have  been  scattered. 
Hence  it  will  necessarily  follow,  both  that  the  prince  was 
a  rankling  thorn  or  great  persecutor  of  the  Jews^  and  that 
he  will  perish  at  the  era  of  their  restoration.  In  modern 
histor}'  we  find,  that  the  papal  little  horn  has  been  the 
great  promoter  of  all  the  persecutions  and  oppressions, 
which  the  Jexvs  have  suffered,  compelling  them  to  apos- 
tatise and  bow  doAAn  before  idols  and  relics,  taking  their 
children  from  them  in  order  that  they  may  be  educated 
in  the  superstitions  of  Popery,  robbing  them  of  their 
})roperty,  banishing  and  even  murdering  them  \\.  And 
from  prophecy  we  find,  tliat  this  little  horn  is  to  be  de- 
stroyed at  the  close  of  the  1260  yea7's  ;  that  is  to  say,  at 
the  peiiod  wlien  the  Jexvs  begin  to  be  restored  \^  . — The 

*  iRev.  xvu.  4.  xviii.  16.  Platina relates,  that  "in  his  pontifical  vestments 
Pope  Paul  II.  outwent  all  his  predecessors,  especially  in  his  regno  or  mitre, 
u]Jon  which  he  laid  oat  a  syreat  deal  of  money  in  purchasing  at  vast  rates  dia- 
monds, sapphires,  emeralds,  chrysoliths,  jaspers,  unioiis,  and  all  manner  of 
])recions  stones  ;  wherewith  adorned  like  another  Aaron,  he  would  appear 
abroad  somewhat  more  augvist  than  a  man,  dehgliting'  to  be  seen  and  admired' 
by  every  one."     Lives  of  the  Popes,  P.  414.  cited  by  B.  Newton. 

t  Rev.  xviii   22.  *  2  Thess.  ii,  7. 

§  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xxii. 

^  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  vii. 

Jl  Dan.  vii.  11,  25,  26.  xii.  \,7 


219 

prince  is  to  be  destroyed  by  the  instrumentality  of  thi 
strangers,  the  terrible  of  the  nations.  The  Scriptures 
abundantly  testify,  that  the  Jews,  who  have  long  been 
wanderers  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  whence  they  may 
emphatically  be  styled  the  strangers  *,  will  at  the  titne  of 
the  end  become  a  principal  instrument  in  the  hand  of  God 
of  punishing  all  their  oppressors  ;  the  chief  of  whom, 
because  the  instigator  of  all  the  rest,  has  ever  been  the 
Pope  \. — The  prince  is  to  die  the  death  of  the  uncircum- 
cised  by  the  hand  of  the  strangers.  The  pope,  or  false 
JRomish  prophet,  is  to  perish  in  Palestine  ;  as  the  Jews  for-^ 
merly  inflicted  the  vengeance  of  God,  in  the  same  coun- 
try, on  the  various  wicked  uncircumcised  nations  of  the 
Canaanites, — The  prince  is  to  die  the  death  of  them  that 
are  slain  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  The  Pope,  who  has  so 
long  sat  upon  the  many  symbolical  waters,  is  to  perish 
during  a  time  of  unexampled  trouble  and  confusion,  the 
waves  and  the  sea  roaring,  men's  hearts  failing  them 
through  fear^ — The  prince  is  to  be  devoured  by  a  fire 
from  the  midst  of  him,  and  to  be  cast  to  the  ground  a 
spectacle  to  all  the  kings  of  the  earth.  The  Papacy  is  to 
waste  a\vay  by  an  internal  fire ;  which  has  already  begun 
to  consume  it ;  the  ten  horns  of  the  Roman  beast,  are  to 
hate  the  whore,  and  to  make  her  desolate  and  naked,  and 
to  eat  her  flesh,  and  to  burn  her  with  fire  ;  she  is  finally 
to  be  completely  destroyed  by  a  fire,  which  may  likewise 
be  said  to  come  out  of  her,  eren  the  house  of  Judah, 
which  will  be  gathered  out  of  her  empire,  and  which  will 
become  like  a  hearth  of  fire  among  the  wood  and  like  a 
torch  of  fire  in  a  sheaf  \  ;  and  then  all  the  kings  of  the 
earth,  who  have  committed  fornication  and  lived  deli- 
ciously  with  her,  will  bewail  her  and  lament  for  her,  when 

*  I  wish  this  remark  concerning-  the  strangers  to  be  considered  only  in  the 
light  of  a  conjecture.  It  is  possible,  that  by  them  may  not  be  intended  the 
yews,  but  some  fierce  northern  nation,  which  there  is  reason  to  expect  from 
prophecy  will  be  very  instrumental  in  punishing- the  sins  o£the  Soman  Baby- 
Ion  during  the  time  that  Antichrist  is  engaged  in  his  expedition  against  Pal- 
estine. This  matter  will  be  discussed  more  at  large,  when  I  treat  of  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  and  St.  John.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  Vitrjnga,  in 
summing  up  the  particulars  wherein  the  literal  Babylon  is  typical  "of  the 
•ynystical  Bai)ylon,  enumerates  the  attack  made  upon  it  by  fierce  northern  na- 
tions, the  Medo-Persians  and  their  allies,  which  terminated  in  its  destruc- 
tion.    See  the  passage  cited  in  the  notes  on  prophecy  V. 

t  Isaiah  xli.  15, 16l— Obad.  18.— Zechar,  xij.  6.  i:  Zechar.  xii.  6, 


22e 

the)'-  shall  see  the  smoke  of  her  burning  *": — The  mystic 
Tyre  is  to  be  brought  by  her  rowers  into  deep  waters, 
and  to  be  broken  by  the  east  wind  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 
The  power  of  the  Papacy  is  to  be  brought  by  its  sup- 
porters, the  beast  and  the  kings  of  the  earthy  into  great 
trouble ;  and  to  be  broken  by  a  violent  wind^  or  dread- 
ful war,  in  the  midst  of  the  syrnbolical  sea,  in  the  eastern 
region  of  Palestine  f, — Finally  God  will  cast  the  prince 
cut  of  his  holy  mountain  as  profane,  and  will  make  him 
a  terror  among  the  nations,  and  will  cause  that  he  shall 
never  be  any  more.  In  a  similar  manner  the  dominion 
of  the  little  papal  horn  shall  be  utterly  consumed  and  de- 
stroyed ;  and  the  kingdom  shall  be  given  to  the  siiints  of 
the  Most  High,  or  those  who  constitute  that  pure  millen- 
nian  church  out  of  which  the  horn  shall  be  for  ever  cast  : 
the  man  of  sin  shall  be  consumed  by  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord's  mouth,  and  shall  be  destroyed  by  the  brightness 
of  his  coming :  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  shall  be 
taken  in  arms  against  the  Lord,  and  shall  be  cast  alive 
into  a  lake  of  lire  burning  with  brimstone :  Babylon  the 
great  shall  become  the  habitation  of  devils,  and  the  hold 
of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hate- 
ful bird,  and  shall  be  thrown  down,  and  shall  be  found 
no  more  at  all  :  in  short  the  papal  tyrant,  who  had  so 
often  excommunicated  and  thrust  out  of  what  he  termed 
the  catholic  church,  all  who  refused  to  partake  of  his  idol- 
atr}'  and  to  pollute  themselves  with  his  abominations,  shall 
now  himself  be  cast  with  ignominy  out  of  the  true  church 
of  Christ ;  and  shall  be  for  ever  separate  from  those,  who 
had  come  out  of  his  spiritual  empire,  in  order  that  they 
might  not  be  partakers  of  his  sins,  nor  receive  of  his 
plagues  %. 

*  Rev.  xviii.  9. 

f  "  Tempestuous  viinds,  or  die  motion  of  clouds,  for  wars."  Sir  Isaac  Newton's 
Observ.  on  Dan.  and  St.  John.     P.  18. 

i  For  tlie  manner  in  which  the  character  of  this  prince  is  applied  to  the 
literal  prince  of  Tyre,  the  reader  may  consult  Abp.  Newcome's  translation  of 
Ezekiel.  I  confess  it  appears  to  me  totally  inapplicable  either  to  Ithobal 
^or  any  other  Phenician  sovereign.  According  to  his  grace,  the  rankling  thorn 
■was  removed  when  Nebuchadnezzar  subdued  all  the  ancient  enemies  of  the 
^ezvs.  But  this  falls  very  far  short  of  the  plain  import  of  the  prophecy. 
The  terms,  in  which  it  is  expressed,  extend  it  to  the  restoration  of  the  ivhole 
house  of  Israel,  Ephraim&s  well  as  jfitdah  ;  and  it  positively  asserts,  that  af- 
ter the  doHunfal  of  Tyre,  there  should  be  no  more  a  rankling  thorn  to  afflict  the 


221 

When  the  thorn,  that  had  so  long  goaded  the  house  of 
Israel,  shall  be  removed  ;  when  the  Lord  shall  have  ex- 
ecuted judgments  upon  all  those  that  despised  his  people: 
then  will  he  gather  them  from  all  the  countries  of  their 
dispersion,  and  bring  them  into  the  land  which  he  gave 
unto  his  servant  Jacob.  There  they  shall  dwell  safely, 
and  shall  build  houses,  and  shall  plant  vineyards  :  they 
shall  dwell  with  confidence,  and  shall  know  that  the  Lord. 
is  their  God. 


PROPHECY    XXV. 

The  dispersion  of  Israel  through  the  tyranny  of  their  shepherds — 
God  will  require  his  people  at  their  hands — The  restoration  of 
Judah  partly  in  a  converted  and  partly  in  an  unconverted  state — 
The  opposition  of  the  unconverted  to  the  converted,  a  proof  that 
the  unconverted  will  be  restored  by  Antichrist — Downfal  of  the 
mystic  Edom — The  political  revival,  restoration,  and  final  union, 
of  Israel  and  Judah — ^The  overthrow  of  Gog  and  Magog  at  the 
end  of  the  Millennium. 

Ezekiel  xxxiv.  1.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
unto  me,  saying,  2.  Son  of  man,  prophesy  against  the 
shepherds  of  Israel  * — should  not  the  shepherds  feed  the 

ancient  people  of  God.  Novv,from  Babylon  yudah  alone  returned  ;  and,  so  far 
from  afterwards  enjoying  a  state  of  uninterrupted  tranquillity,  or  (in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  prophet)  being  freed  from  the  stings  of  rankling  briars  and  ul- 
cerating thorns,  the  yews,  after  having  been  subjected  to  the  persecutions  of 
the  Syro-Macedonian  kings,  were  at  length  scattered  b}'  the  Romans  over 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  Formerly  they  were  only  chastised  with  whips  ; 
latterly  they  have  been  chastised  with  scorpians. 

Mr.  Bicheno  1  believe  to  be  right  in  referring  this  prophecy  to  the  yet  fu- 
ture era.  oi  the  restoration  of  yndah,  hut  I  th'mh  him  mistaken  in  supposing 
that  Tjre  is  the  type  of  some  great  modern  coontnercial  nation.  He  censures 
Mr.  Fraser  for  conceiving,  like  myself,  tliat  the  prediction  relates  to  tlie  ozrr- 
throvj  of  papal  £ome,  merely  because  Rome  is  not  a  commercial  city  and 
possesses  not  any  naval  power.  I  have  not  read  Mr.  Fraser's  work,  and 
therefore  know  not  by  what  arguments  he  supports  his  opinion  :  but  this, 
which  Mr.  Richeno  brings  against  liim,  is  certainly  inconclusive  If  it  prove 
any  thing,  it  will  prove  equally  that  the  apocalyptic  Babvlon  cannot  be  the  Pa- 
pacy;  because  the  apocalyptic  Babylon  is  described,  like  Tyre,  as  being  a  great 
commercial  city,  and  as  having  many  trading  vessels  out  at  sea.  But  I  have 
already  most  fully  stated  my  reasons  for  interpreting  the  prophecy  as  I  have 
done.  The  reader  will  find  Mr.  Bicheno's  arguments  in  favor  of  his  opinion, 
in  his  Signs  of  the  'tim^s,  partiii.  p.  172 — 176. 

*  The  shepherds  of  Israel.']  These  5A(y!)Aerc/.j  must  certainly  be,  not  theolo- 
gical,  hut  political,  shephtrds.    Corrupt  as  the  Jewish  priests,  scribes,  and 


222 

flock? — 3.  But  ye  feed  not  the  flock. — 5.  They  art 
scattered  so  that  they  have  no  shepherd  f;  and  they  are 
become  meat  to  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  when  they  were 
scattered.  6.  My  sheep  wander  through  all  the  moun- 
tains, and  upon  every  high  hill;  yea,  my  flock  is  scat- 
tered upon  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  none  searcheth 
or  seeketh  after  them.-— 9.  Therefore,  O  ye  shepherds, 
hear  the  word  of  the  Lord:  10.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God ;  Behold,  I  am  against  the  shepherds :  and  I  will 
require  my  flock  at  their  hand,  and  cause  them  to  cease 
from  feeding  the  flock ;  neither  shall  the  shepherds  feed 
themselves  any  more:  for  I  will  deliver  my  flock  from 
their  mouth,  that  they  may  not  be  meat  for  them. 

11.  Wherefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  Behold  I, 
even  I,  will  both  search  my  sheep,  and  seek  them  out. 
12.  As  the  shepherd  seeketh  out  his  flock  in  the  day  that 
he  is  among  his  sheep  that  are  scattered;  so  will  I  seek 
out  my  sheep,  and  will  deliver  them  out  of  all  places 
where  they  have  been  scattered  in  the  dark  and  cloudy 
day.  13.  And  I  will  bring  them  out  from  the  peoples  *, 

Pharisees,  were  In  the  days  of  our  Saviour,  I  know  not  with  wliat  propriety 
it  can  be  said,  that  they  scattered  the  flock  upon  tlie  face  of  the  whole  earth 
in  the  dark  and  cloudy  day,  and  that  from  rAe/V  hands  the  flock  will  be  re- 
quired In  the  day  of  their  restoration  :  ^o\',i\\ni  the  scattering  h^vQ  spoken  of 
means  a  literal  and  not  a  spiritual  dispersion  (as  that  In  Isalali  HII.  6.  All  vje 
like  sheep  have  gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  ivayj,  Is  mani- 
fest from  its  being  placed  in  opposition  to  the  literal  gathering  together  and  re- 
turn of  the  ye'Ms.  Those  then,  who  literally  scattered  the  jfeins,  and  from 
■whose  hands  they  will  be  required  at  their  restoration,  must  undoubtedly  be 
the  shepherds  here  Intended.  The  shepherds  therefore  must  be  the  Romaii 
ieast  under  his  sixth  and  last  heads.  The  passage  is  exactly  parallel  witli  two 
prophecies  already  considered  :  Jerem.  xli.  9 — IT  ;  and  xxiil.  1—8.  Abp. 
Newcome  and  Ml chaelis  justly  understand  the  shepherds  In  a  temporal  sense  ; 
but  suppose  them  to  mean  the  king,  his  counsellors,  and  tlie  heads  of  the  people. 
These  however  do  not  answer  to  the  proplietlc  character  of  the  shepherds  ,• 
because  they  certainly  never  scattered  the  Israelites-  The  terms  of  the  pre- 
diction are  such  as  to  make  it  vej-y  unnatural  and  far-fetched  to  say,  that  the 
Jewish  rulers  scattered  the  people,  by  so  provoking'  God  with  their  sins  as 
to  induce  him  to  send  nations  against  them  who  did  literally  scatter  them. 
See  Mr.  Lowth  In  loc. 

I  They  have  no  shepherd."]  They  are  under  no  Independent  government  of 
their  own  ;  but  have  been  long  subject  to  the  tyranny  of  shepherds,  who 
preyed  upon  them,  Instead  of  feeding  them.  The  sceptre  Is  departed  from 
Judah  ;  and  they  have  abode  many  days  without  a  king,  and  without  a  prince, 
and  without  a  sacrifice.     See  Gen.  xlix.  10.  and  Hosea  III.  4. 

*  I  ivill  bring  them  out  from  the  peoples."]  "This  prophecy  may  have  been 
in  some  degree  fulfilled  In  the  return  of  the  j^ews  from  tlie  Babylonish  captivi- 
ty ;  but  seems  still  to  look  further,  even  to  the  general  restoration  of  the 
whole  nation,  which  most  of  the  prophets  foretell  shall  come  to  pass  in  the 
latter  days."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


223 

and  will  gather  them  from  the  countries,"  and  will  bring 
them  to  their  own  land,  and  feed  them  upon  the  moun- 
tains of  Israel,  by  the  rivers,  and  in  all  the  inhabited 
places  of  the  country.  14.  I  will  feed  them  in  a  good 
pasture,  and  u])on  the  high  mountains  of  Israel  shall  their 
ibid  be:  there  shall  they  lie  in  a  good  fold,  and  in  a  fat 
pasture  shall  they  feed  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel. 
15.  I  will  feed  my  flock,  and  I  will  cause  them  to  lie 
down,  saith  the  Lord.  16.  I  will  seek  that  which  was 
lost,  and  bring  again  that  which  was  driven  away,  and 
will  bind  up  that  which  was  broken,  and  will  strengthen 
that  which  was  sick  r  but  I  will  destroy  the  fat  and  the 
strong  ;  I  will  feed  them  with  judgment. 

17.  And,  as  for  you,  O  my  flock,  thus  saith  the  Lord 
God;  Behold,  I  judge  between  cattle  and  cattle,  between 
the  rams  and  the  he-goats.  18.  Seemeth  it  a  small  thing 
unto  you  to  have  eaten  up  the  good  pasture,  but  ye  must 
tread  down  with  your  feet  the  residue  of  your  pastures  ? 
and  to  have  drunk  of  the  deep  waters,  but  ye  must  foul 
the  residue  with  your  feet  ?  19.  And,  as  for  my  flock, 
they  eat  that  which  ye  have  trodden  with  your  feet,  and 
they  drink  that  which  ye  have  fouled  with  your  feet. 

20.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto  them,. 
Behold  I,  even  I,  will  judge  between  the  fat  cattle  and 
the  lean  cattle.  21.  Because  ye  have  thrust  with  side 
and  with  shoulder,  and  pushed  all  the  diseased  with  your 
horns,  till  ye  have  scattered  them  abroad;  22.  Therefore 
■will  I  save  my  flock,  and  they  shall  be  no  more  a  prey, 
and  I  will  judge  between  cattle  and  cattle.  23.  And  I 
will  set  up  one  shepherd  over  them,  and  he  shall  feed 
them,  even  my  servant  David:  he  shall  feed  them,  and 
he  shall  be  their  shepherd.  24.  And  I,  the  Lord,  will 
be  their  God;  and  my  servant  David  shall  be  a  prince 
among  them :  I,  the  Lord,  have  spoken  it.  25.  And  I 
will  make  with  them  a  covenant  of  peace,  and  will  cause 
the  evil  beas'.s  to  cease  out  of  the  land :  and  they  shall 
dwell  safely  in  the  wilderness,  and  sleep  in  the  woods* 

26.  And  I  will  make  them  and  the  places  round  about 
my  hill  a  blessing;  and  I  will  cause  the  shower  to  come 
down  in  his  season;  there  shall  be  showers  of  blessing. 

27.  And  the  tree  of  the  field  shall  yield  \w  fruit,  and 


224 

the  earth  shall  yield  her  increase,  and  they  shall  be  safe 
in  their  land,  and  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  when  I 
have  broken  the  bands  of  their  yoke*,  and  delivered 
them  out  of  the  hand  of  those  that  caused  them  to  serve 
among  them.  28.  And  they  shall  be  no  more  a  prey  to 
the  nations,  neither  shall  the  beasts  of  the  earth  f  devour 
them;  but  they  shall  dwell  safely,  and  none  shall  make 
them  afraid.  29.  And  I  will  raise  up  for  them  a  plant  of 
renown:!: ;  and  they  shall  be  no  more  consumed  with  hun- 
ger in  the  land,  neither  shall  they  bear  the  shame  of  the 
nations  any  more.  30.  Thus  shall  they  know,  that  I,  the 
Lord  their  God,  am  with  them ;  and  that  they,  even  the 
house  of  Israel,  are  my  people,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
31.  And  ye,  my  flock,  the  flock  of  my  pasture,  are  men, 
and  I  am  your  God,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

XXXV.  1.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me, 
saying,  2.  Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  against  mount  S  ir, 
and  prophesy  against  it,  3.  And  say  unto  it.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God ;  Behold,  O  mount  Scir,  I  am  against 
thee,  and  I  will  stretch  out  mine  hand  against  thee,  and 
I  will  make  thee  a  desolation  and  a  desolation.  4.  I  will 
lay  thy  cities  waste,  and  thou  shalt  be  desolate;  and  thou 
shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  5.  Because  thou  hast 
had  a  perpetual  hatred,  and  hast  shed  the  blood  of  the 
children  of  Israel  by  the  force  of  the  sword,  in  the  time 
of  their  iniquity  in  the  end:  6.  Therefore,  as  I  live,  saith 
the  Lord  God,  I  will  prepare  thee  for  blood,  and  blood 
shall  pursue  thee :  sith  thou  hast  not  hated  blood,  even 
blood  shall  pursue  thee.  7.  Thus  will  I  make  mount 
Seif  a  desolation  and  a  desolation ;  and  cut  off"  from  it 
him  that  passeth  out,  and  him  that  returneth.  8.  And  I 
will  fill  his  mountains  with  his  slain  men :  in  thy  hills,  and 
in  thy  vallies,  and  in  all  thy  rivfcrs,  shall  they  fall  that  are 
slain  w4th  the  sword.     9.  I  will  make  thee  a  perpetual 

•  when  I  have  broken  the  bands  of  their  yoke.']  "The  same  expression  which 
is  used  concerning  f/(e  deliverance  of  Israel  out  of  Eg^pt  (l.evit.  xxvi.  13. 
Jereni.  ii.  20.)  ;  tlieir /?;a/ rcsforafzon  being' represented  as  the  greater  deli- 
verance of  the  two.     See  Jerem.  xxiii.  7,  8."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  Thebeastsof  the  earth. ~\  Tyrannical  empires  ;  the  nations  mentioned  in 
the  former  clause  of  the  verse.     See  Mr.  Lowth's  Comment,  on  ver.  25. 

+  A  plant  of  renown.]  "  The  Messiah  is  often  described  under  the  name 
of  the  branch,  and  the  rod  ov  shoot  growing  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse."  Mr. 
Lowth  in  loc 


225 

desolation,  and  thy  cities  shall  not  return :  and  ye  shall 
know,  that  I  am  the  Lord.  10.  Because  thou  hast  said, 
These  two  nations,  and  these  two  countries,  shall  be 
mine,  and  we  will  possess  it :  whereas  the  Lord  was 
there.  11.  Therefore,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  T 
will  even  do  according  to  thine  anger  and  according  to 
thine  envy  which  thou  hast  used  out  of  thy  hatred  against 
them;  and  I  will  make  myself  known  among  them,  when 
I  have  judged  thee.  12.  And  thou  shalt  know,  that, 
I  the  Lord,  have  heard  all  thy  contemptuous  speeches 
which  thou  hast  spoken  against  the  mountains  of  Israel, 
saying,  They  are  laid  desolate,  they  are  given  us  to 
consume.  13.  Thus  with  your  mouth  ye  ha\'e  boast- 
ed against  me,  and  have  multiplied  your  words  against 
me :  I  have  heard.  14.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God : 
When  the  whole  earth  rejoiceth,  I  will  make  thee  deso- 
late. 15.  As  thou  didst  rejoice  at  the  inheritance  o£the 
house  of  Israel,  because  it  was  desolate,  so  will  I  do  unto 
thee:  thou  shalt  be  desolate,  O  mount  Seir  and  all  Edom, 
even  all  of  it;  and  they  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord. 
xxxvi.  1.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy  unto  the 
mountains  of  Israel,  and  say,  Ye  mountains  of  Israel  *, 
hear  the  word  of  the  Lord :  2.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God : 
Because  the  enem.y  hath  said  against  you,  Aha,  even  the 
ancient  high  places  are  ours  in  possession:  3.  Therefore 
prophesy,  and  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Because 
they  have  made  you  desolate,  imd  swallowed  you  up  on 
every  side,  that  ye  might  be  a  possession  unto  the  resi- 
due of  the  nations,  and  ye  are  taken  up  in  the  lips  of 
talkers,  and  are  an  infamy  of  the  people :  4.  Therefore, 
ye  mountains  of  Israel,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  God ; 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  to  the  mountains  and  to  the 
hills,  to  the  rivers  and  to  the  vallies,  to  the  desolate 
wastes  and  to  the  forsaken  cities,  which  became  a  prey 

*  Te  mountains  of  Israel.']  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  present  compa- 
ratively barren  state  of  Palestine  has  not  unfrequently  been  ui-ged  by  infidels 
■with  contemptuous  triumph  ag'ainstthe  scriptural  descriptions  of  it  as  a  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  a  land  capable  of  supporting  an  astonishing  de- 
gree of  population.  Here  we  behold  their  taunts  anticipated  with  the  decla- 
ration, that  He,  who  can  make  a  fruitful  land  barren  for  tlie  wickedness  of 
them  that  dwell  therein,  can  again  with  equal  ease  make  a  barren  land  fruit- 
ful when  he  gathers  his  ancient  people  into  the  country  of  their  fathers. 
Psalm,  cvii.  33—37.    See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  viii.  3. 

29 


226 

and  derision  to  the  residue  of  the  nations  round  about. 

5.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Surely  in  the  fire 
of  my  jealousy  have  I  spoken  against  the  residue  of  the 
nations,  and  against  all  Edom,  which  have  appointed  my 
land  unto  them  for  a  possession,  with  the  joy  of  all  their 
heart,  with  despiteful  minds,  to  cast  it  out  for  a  prey. 

6.  Prophesy  therefore  concerning  the  land  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  the  mountains  and  to  the  hills,  to  the  rivers  and 
to  the  vallies.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Behold,  I  have 
spoken  in  my  jealousy  and  in  my  furj^,  because  ye  have 
borne  the  shame  of  the  nations :  7.  Therefore  thus  saith 
the  Lord  God ;  I  have  lifted  up  mine  hand.  Surely  the 
nations  that  are  about  you,  they  shall  bear  their  shame. 
8.  But  ye,  O  mountains  of  Israel,  ye  shall  shoot  forth 
your  branches,  and  yield  your  fruit  to  my  people  Israel : 
for  they  are  at  hand  to  come.  9.  For  behold,  I  am  for 
you,  and  I  will  turn  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  tilled  and 
sown:  10.  And  I  will  multiply  men  upon  you,  all  the 
house  of  Israel  even  all  of  it :  and  the  cities  shall  be  in- 
habited, and  the  wastes  shall  be  builded :  11.  And  I  will 
multiply  upon  you  man  and  beast ;  and  they  shall  increase 
and  bring  forth  fruit ;  and  I  will  settle  you  after  your  old 
estates,  and  will  do  better  unto  you  than  at  your  begin- 
nings: and  ye  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord. — 

16.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying; 
17.  Son  of  man,  when  the  house  of  Israel  dwelt  in  their 
own  land,  they  defiled  it — 18.  Wherefore  I  poured  my 
fury  upon  them, — 19.  And  I  scattered  them  among  the 
nations,  and  they  were  dispersed  through  the  countries  : 
according  to  their  way,  and  according  to  their  doings,  I 
judged  them.  20.  And,  when  they  entered  unto  the 
nations  whither  they  went,  they  profaned  my  holy  name, 
when  they  said  to  them.  These  are  the  people  of  the 
Lord,  and  ai'e  gone  forth  out  of  his  land.  21.  And  I  had 
pity  for  mine  holy  name,  which  the  house  of  Israel  had 
profaned  among  the  nations  whither  they  went.  22.  There- 
fore say  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God ;  I  do  not  this  for  your  sakes,  O  house  of  Israel, 
but  for  mine  holy  name's  sake,  vv^hich  ye  have  profaned 
among  the  nations  whither  ye  went.  23.  And  I  will 
sanctify  my  great  name,  which  was  profaned  among  the 


227 

nations,  which  ye  have  profaned  in  the  midst  of  them  j 
and  the  nations  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord,  saith  the 
Lord  God,  when  I  shall  be  sanctified  in  you  before  their 
eyes.  24.  For  I  will  take  you  from  among  the  nations, 
and  gather  you  out  of  all  countries,  and  will  bring  you 
into  your  own  land.  25.  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean 
water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean :  from  all  your 
filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you. 
26.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit 
will  I  put  within  you  :  and  1  will  take  away  the  stony 
heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an  heart  of 
flesh.  27.  And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and 
cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my 
judgments,  and  do  them.  28.  And  ye  shall  dwell  in  the 
land  that  I  gave  to  your  fathers ;  and  ye  shall  be  my  peo- 
ple, and  I  will  be  your  God — 31.  Then  shall  ye  remem- 
ber your  own  evil  ways,  and  your  doings  that  were  not 
good,  and  shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight  for 
your  iniquities  and  for  your  abominations.  32.  Not  for 
your  sakes  do  I  this,  saith  the  Lord  God ;  be  it  known 
unto  you  :  be  ashamed  and  confounded  for  your  own 
ways,  O  house  of  Israel — 

xxxvii.  1.  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,  and 
carried  me  out  in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  set  me  down 
in  the  midst  of  a  valley  which  was  full  of  bones,  2.  And 
caused  me  to  pass  by  them  round  about :  and  behold, 
there  were  very  many  in  the  open  valley  ;  and  lo,  they 
were  very  dry.  3.  And  he  said  unto  me.  Son  of  man, 
can  these  bones  live  ?  And  I  answered,  O  Lord  God, 
thou  knowest.  4.  And  he  said  unto  me.  Prophesy  upon 
these  bones,  and  say  unto  them,  O  ye  dry  bones  *,  hear 

*  Dry  bones.']  The  extreme  accuracy  of  symbolical  prophecy  is  very  re- 
markable. St.  John,  wishing'  to  describe  the  short  extinction  of  the  Sinalcal- 
dic  -ivitnesses  which  continued  only  three  years  and  a  half,  describes  them  as 
being  slain  indeed,  but  as  lying'  unburied  during-  the  space  of  three  days  and 
a  half;  after  whicli  life  entered  into  them,  and  they  stood  again  upon  tlieir 
feet  (Rev.  xi.  Z — 10.  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years,  vol  ii.  p.  60.  2d  edit, 
p.  62.)  Isaiah,  on  t)»e  other  hand,  exhibiting-  to  us  the  long  political  extinction 
ofyudah,  represents  his  children,  as  not  only  dead,  but  buried.  (Isaiah  xxvi. 
19.)  While  Ezekiel,  treating  both  of  the  long  extinction  of  yudah  and  the  yet 
longer  extinction  of  Israel,  calls  us  to  behold  the  resurrection  of  a  heap  of  dry 
bones ;  of  bones,  all  whose  covering  even  of  putrid  flesh  had  long  since  de- 
cayed away  ;  whose  very  sinews  were  wasted  :  of  bones  altogether  bare  ; 
and,  not  only  altogether  bare,  but  which  had  so  long  been  bleaching  in  the 


228 

the  word  of  the  Lord.  5.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto 
these  bones ;  Behold,  I  will  cause  breath  to  enter  into  you, 
and  ye  shall  live.  6.  And  I  will  lay  sinews  upon  you,  and 
will  bring  up  flesh  upon  }'ou,  and  cover  you  with  skin, 
and  put  breath  in  you  ;  and  ye  shall  live,  and  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  7.  So  I  prophesied  as  I  was 
commanded :  and,  as  I  prophesied,  there  was  a  noise  ; 
and,  behold,  a  shaking;  and  the  bones  came  together, 
bone  to  his  bone.  8.  And  when  I  beheld,  lo,  the  sinews 
and  the  flesh  came  up  upon  them,  and  the  skin  covered 
them  above  :  but  there  was  no  breath  in  them.  9.  Then 
said  he  unto  me.  Prophesy  unto  the  wind,  prophesy,  son 
of  man,  and  say  to  the  wind;  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath  *,  and  breathe  upon 
these  slain  that  they  may  live.  10.  So  I  prophesied  as 
he  commanded  me,  and  the  breath  came  into  them,  and 
they  lived,  and  stood  up  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding 
great  army. 

11.  Then  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  these  bones 
are  the  whole  house  of  Israel:  behold,  they  say,  our 
bones  are  dried,  and  our  hope  is  lost ;  we  are  cut  off"  for 
our  parts.  12.  Therefore  prophesy,  and  say  unto  them. 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  O  my  people,  I  will 
open  your  graves,  and  cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your 
graves,  and  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel.  13.  And 
ye  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  have  opened 
your  graves,  O  my  people,  and  brought  you  up  out  of 
your  graves.  14.  And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  in  you,  and 
ye  shall  live,  and  I  will  place  you  in  your  own  land :  then 
shall  ye  know,  that  I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it,  and  per- 
formed it,  saith  the  Lord. 

15.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying, 
16.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  take  thee  one  stick,  and  write 
upon  it,  For  Judah,  and  for  the  children  of  Israel  his  com- 

sun  and  in  tlie  wind,  that  lo,  they  ivtre  very  dry.  The  prophet  adds.  These  bones 
are  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  Epiirahn,  as  well  as  yiidah  ;  and  puts  tliese 
emphatic  words  into  tlie  mouth  of  tint  nation,  which  separately  or  wholly 
has  heen  expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  under  foot,  more  than  25  centuries. 
Our  bones  are  dried,  and  our  hope  is  lost. 

*  Come  from,  the  four  IV  in  ds,  O  breath']  "The  words  fig-uratively  repre- 
sent the  restoration  of  the  ^nuish  nation  from  the  several  countries  whither 
they  were  dispersed  over  the  world,  expressed  by  their  being  scattered  to- 
ward all  winds."     Mr.  Lowlh  in  loc 


229 

panions.  Then  take  another  stick,  and  write  upon  it, 
For  Joseph,  the  stick  of  Ephraim,  and  for  all  the  house  of 
Israel  his  companions  *  :  17.  And  join  them  one  to 
another  into  one  stick ,  and  they  shall  become  one  in 
thine  hand.  18.  And,  when  the  children  of  thy  people 
shall  speak  unto  thee,  saying-.  Wilt  thou  not  shew  us 
what  thou  meanest  by  these  ?  19.  Say  unto  them,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold  I  w'ill  take  the  stick  of  Jo- 
seph, which  is  in  the  hand  of  Ephraim,  and  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  his  fellows,  and  will  put  them  upon  him  with  the 
stick  of  Judah,  and  make  them  one  stick,  and  they  shall 
be  one  in  mine  hand.  20.  And  the  sticks,  whereon 
thou  writest  shall  be  in  thine  hand  before  their  eyes. 
21.  And  sayunto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  Behold, 
I  will  take  the  children  of  Israel  from  among  the  nations 
whither  they  be  gone,  and  will  gather  them  on  every  side, 
and  bring  them  into  their  own  land :  22.  And  I  will 
make  them  one  nation  in  the  land  upon  the  mountains  of 
Israel ;  and  one  king  shall  be  king  to  them  all ;  and  they 
shall  be  no  more  two  nations,  neither  shall  they  be  divid- 
ed into  two  kingdoms  any  more  at  all.  23.  Neither 
shall  they  defile  themselves  any  more  with  their  idols, 
nor  with  their  detestable  things,  nor  with  any  of  their 
transgressions  :  but  I  will  save  them  out  of  all  their  dwel- 
ling places  wherein  they  have  sinned,  and  will  cleanse 
them,  and  they  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  their 
God.  24.  And  David  my  servant  shall  be  king  over 
them,  and  they  shall  all  have  one  shepherd :  and  they 
shall  walk  in  my  judgments,  and  observe  my  statutes, 
and  do  them.  25.  And  they  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that 
I  have  given  unto  Jacob  my  servant,  wherein  your  fa- 
thers have  dwelt ;  and  they  shall  dwell  therein,  even  they 
and  their  children,  and  their  children's  children,  forever  : 

*  yudah,  and  the  children  of  Israel  his  companions — Joseph,  and  all  the  house 
of  Israel  his  companions.']  This  remarkable  expression  might  alone  ])rove, 
that  the  restoration  of  the  house  of  Israel,  so  often  predicted  by  the  prophets, 
did  not  take  place,  to  the  degree  that  it  ever  will  take  place,  at  tlie  return 
from  the  Babvloniaii  captivity.  Judah  is  here  mentioned,  with  the  children 
of  Israel  his  companions  ;  or  Levi,  ^e/yam/n,  and  such  individuals  of  ^^e  ten 
tribes  as  followed  iiim  from  Babylon  :  while  foseph  is  separately  mentioned, 
as  having  all  the  house  of  Israel  for  his  companions  ;  or  tJie  great  body  of  the  ten 
tribes.  After  the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  Judah  so  circumstanced,  and  Jo- 
scph  so  circumstanced,  are  to  coalesce  into  people. 


230 

and  my  sen^ant  David  shall  be  their  prince  for  ever, 
26.  And  I  will  make  a  covenant  of  peace  with  them  :  it 
shall  be  an  everlasting  covenant  with  them  :  and  I  will 
place  them,  and  multiply  them,  and  will  set  my  sanctuary 
in  the  midst  of  them  for  evermore.  27.  And  my  taber- 
nacle shall  be  with  them  :  and  I  will  be  their  God,  and 
they  shall  be  my  people.  28.  And  the  nations  shall 
know,  that  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  Israel  *,  when  my 
sanctuary  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  them  for  evermore. 

xxxviii.  1.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me, 
saying,  son  of  man,  set  thy  face  against  Gog  of  the  land 
of  Magog,  the  prince  of  Rosh,  Mesech,  and  Tubal  f,  and 
prophesy  against  him:  3.  And  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God;  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  Gog,  the  prince  of 
Rosh,  Mesech,  and  Tubal.  4.  And  I  will  turn  thee  back, 
and  put  hooks  into  thy  jaws,  and  I  will  bring  thee  forth, 
and  all  thine  army,  horses  and  horsemen,  all  of  them  cloth- 
ed with  all  sorts  of  armour,  even  a  great  company  with 
bucklers  and  shields,  all  of  them  liandling  swords:  5.  Per- 
sia, Ethiopia,  and  Libya,  with  them  ;  all  of  them  with 
shield  and  helmet ;  6.  Gomer  and  all  his  bands  ;  the  house 
of  Togarmah  of  the  north  quarters,  and  all  his  bands ;  and 
many  people  with  thee.  7.  Be  thou  prepared,  and  prepare 
for  thyself,  thou  and  all  thy  company  that  are  assembled 
unto  thee,  and  be  thou  a  guard  unto  them. 

8.  After  many  days  thou  shalt  be  visited :  in  the  end 
of  years  thou  shalt  come  into  the  land  that  is  brought  back 

•  The  nations  shall  knoiv,  that  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  Israel.'\  "  The  conver- 
sion of  tlie  Jewish  nation,  and  their  being'  restoretl  to  their  former  state  of 
favour  and  acceptance  with  God,  will  he  a  work  of  Providence  taken  notice 
of  by  the  heathens  themselves,  who  shall  join  themselves  to  the  yews,  as  the 
church  of  God  and  temple  of  truth.  See  Cliap.  xxxvi.  23."  Mr.  Lowtii 
in  loc. 

■j-  Gog  of  the  land  of  Magog,  the  prince  of  Rosh,  Mesech,  and  Tubal. ~\  So  the 
j,xx.  Ap^ovToe,  ^Vu<i,  Me-o^,  Kcti  ©off^.  Our  translation  takes  CNT  to  be  a 
common  name,  and  thence  reads  chief  prince,  wliich  is  a  manifest  tautology  : 
•wliereas  b»k-i  is  the  name  of  a  people,  like  Mesech,  and  Tubal.  The  Russians 
and  Muscovites  seem  to  be  colonies  of  Hosh  and  Mesech  or  (as  the  name  may 
be  pronounced)  Mosch;  but  1  know  not,  that  we  have  any  reason  for  suppos- 
inp;-  that  they  are  here  intended  (See  Bochart.  Geog.  Sacr.  L.  iii.  C.  12,  13.  or 
VV ell's  Geography  of  the  Old  Testament.  Vol.  i.  p.  78.)  We  may  infer  from 
Daniel,  that  we  ought  to  look  for  the  confederacy  of  Gog  and  Magog  within  the 
ancient  territories  of  the  three  Jirst  beasts  :  there  accordingly  we  find  the  ori- 
ginal settlements  of  all  the  nations  enumerated  by  Ezekiel.  But  let  us  forbeaj- 
to  speculate  on  this  obscure  subject,  further  than  we  have  the  express  war- 
rant of  Scripture.     See  Abp.  Newcome's  Ezek.  in  loc. 


231 

from  the  sword,  and  gathered  out  of  many  peoples,  agamst 
the  mountains  of  Israel,  which  have  been  perpetually  for 
a  desolation  :  yet  it  is  brought  forth  out  of  the  nations, 
and  they  are  dwelling  in  confident  security  all  of  them. 
9.  Thou  shalt  ascend,  and  come  like  a  storm,  thou  shalt 
be  like  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land,  thou  and  all  thy  bands, 
and  many  people  with  thee.     10.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God  ;  It  shall  also  come  to  pass,  that  at  the  same  time 
shall  things  come  into  thy  mind,  and  thou  shalt  think  an 
evil  thought.      11.  And  thou  shalt  say,  I  will  go  up  to 
the  land  of  unwalled  villages :   I  will  go  to  them  that  are 
at  rest,  that  dwell  in  confident  security,  all  of  them  dwel- 
ling without  walls,  and  having  neither  bars  nor  gates ; 
12.  To  take  a  spoil,  and  to  take  a  prey ;  to  turn  thine 
hand  upon  the  once  desolate  places  that  are  now  inhabit- 
ed, upon  the  people  gathered  out  of  the  nations,  which 
have  gotten  cattle  and  goods,  that  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
the  land.     13.  Sheba,  and  Dedan,  and  the  merchants  of 
Tarshish*  with  all  the  young  lions  thereof,  shall  say  unto 
thee.  Art  thou  come  to  take  a  spoil  ?  hast  thou  gathered 
thy  company  to  take  a  prey  ?  to  carry  away  silver  and 
gold,  to  take  away  cattle  and  goods,  to  take  a  great  spoil? 
14.  Therefore,  son  of  man,  prophesy,  and  say  unto 
Gog  ;   Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  Shalt  not  thou  knowf 
in  that  day  when  my  people  Israel  dwelleth  in  confident 
security  ?   15.  Yea,  thou  shalt  come  from  thy  place  out 
of  the  north-parts,  thou  and  many  people  with  thee,  all 
of  them  riding  upon  horses,  a  great  company,  and  a  migh- 
ty army.     16.  And  thou  shalt  come  up  against  my  peo- 
ple Israel,  as  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land :  in  the  end  of 

•  The  merchants  of  Tarshish."]  I  know  not  who  can  be  here  intended  ex- 
oepl  the  great  maritime  nation  of  faithful  worshippers,  which  had  so  vigorous- 
ly opposed  the  tyranny  of  Antichrist,  and  which  had  been  so  instrumental  in 
bring-ing  back  the  converted  division  of  yudah.  It  is  pleasing  to  behold  them, 
»t  the  end  of  the  Millennium,  still  preserving  their  ancient  character,  and 
refusing  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  Gog  and  Magog,  as  they  had  heretofore  re- 
fused to  do  with  Edom.  Faithful  to  their  old  principles  and  their  old  alli- 
ance, they  ask,  in  astonishment  at  this  new  impiety,  "  Art  thou  come  to  take 
a  spoil  ?  hast  thou  gathered  thy  company  to  take  a  prey  ?  to  carry  away  silver 
and  gold,  to  take  away  cattle  and  goods,  to  take  a  great  spoil  ?" 

\  Shalt  not  thou  kno'w.'\  Abp.  Newcome  translates  this  passage  Shalt  thou 
not  rise  up?  instead  of  Shalt  thou  not  knovi?  reading  lyp  o"  the  authority  ot" 
the  Lxx.  who  translate  the  word,  as  it  stood  in  their  copy,  eyepStf^. 


232  * 

days  *  it  shall  be  that  I  will  bring  thee  against  my  land, 
that  the  nations  may  know  me,  wlien  I  shall  be  sanctified 
in  thee,  O  Gog,  before  their  eyes.  17.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God,  Art  thou  he  of  whom  I  have  spoken  in  old 
time  by  my  servants  the  prophets  of  Israel,  which  pro- 
phesied in  those  days  many  years,  that  I  would  bring 
thee  against  them  ?  18.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  at  the 
same  time,  when  Gog  shall  come  against  the  land  of  Is- 
rael, saith  the  Lord  God,  that  my  fury  shall  come  up  in 
my  l\ice.  19.  For  in  my  jealousy  and  in  the  fire  of  my 
wrath  have  I  spoken,  Surely  in  that  day  there  shall  be  a 
great  shaking  in  the  land  of  Israel ;  20.  So  that  the  fish- 
es of  the  sea,  and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  the  beasts 
of  the  field,  and  all  creeping  things  that  creep  upon  the 
earth,  and  all  the  men  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth, 
shall  shake  at  my  presence,  and  the  mountains  shall  be 
thrown  down,  and  the  steep  places  shall  fall,  and  every 
wall  shall  fall  to  the  ground.  21.  And  I  will  call  for  a 
sword  against  him  throughout  all  my  mountains,  saith 
the  Lord  God :  every  man's  sword  shall  be  against  his 
brother.  22.  And  I  will  plead  against  him  with  pesti- 
lence and  with  blood  :  and  I  will  rain  upon  him,  and  up- 
on his  bands,  and  upon  the  many  people  that  are  with 
him,  an  overflowing  rain,  and  great  hailstones,  fire,  and 
brimstone.  23.  Thus  will  I  magnify  myself,  and  sanc- 
tify myself;  and  I  will  be  known  in  the  eyes  of  many 
nations  ;  and  they  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord. 

xxxix.  1.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy  against 
Gog,  and  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I  am 
against  thee,  O  Gog,  the  prince  of  Rosh,  Mesech,  and 
Tubal :  2.  And  I  will  turn  thee  back,  and  leave  but  the 
sixth  part  of  thee,  and  will  cause  thee  to  come  up  from 
the  north  parts,  and  will  bring  thee  upon  the  mountains 
of  Israel :  3.  And  I  will  smite  thy  bow  out  of  thy  left 
hand,  and  will  cause  thine  arrows  to  fall  out  of  thy  right 

*  The  end  of  days."]  Since  Antichrist  is  destroyed  at  the  end  of  days,  and 
since  Go^  and  Magog  likewise  perish  at  the  end  of  days ,-  and  since  Antichrist 
is  destroyed  previous  to  the  ccmmenceincnt  of  tlie  Millennium,  and  Gog  and 
Magog  ut  the  close  of  it:  the  end  of  davs  must  necessarily  mean,  as  I  have  else- 
where arg'ued,  that  portion  of  time  ivhich  begins  at  the  termination  rf  the  great 
mpostasy  of  V260  years,  and  which  expires  at  the  end  of  the  Millenniinn.  Sec  my 
Dissert,  on  the  1260  years.  Vol.  i.  p.  85—88,    2d  edit.  p.  89—92. 


233 

hand.  4.  Thou  shah  fall  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel, 
thou  and  all  thy  bands,  and  the  people  that  is  with  thee: 
I  will  give  thee  unto  the  ravenous  birds  of  every  sort,  and 
to  the  beasts  of  the  field  to  be  devoured.  5.  Thou  shalt 
fall  upon  the  open  field :  for  I  have  spoken  it,  saith  the 
Lord  God.  6.  And  I  will  send  a  fire  on  Magog,  and  on 
those  that  dwell  in  the  isles  in  confident  security ;  and 
they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord — 

17.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
Speak  unto  every  feathered  fowl*,  and  to  every  beast  of 
the  field ;  Assemble  yourselves,  and  come;  gather  your- 
selves on  every  side  to  my  sacrifice  that  I  do  sacrifice, 
even  a  great  sacrifice  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,  that 
ye  may  eat  flesh,  and  drink  blood.  18.  Ye  shall  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  mighty,  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  princes 
of  the  earth,  of  rams,  of  lambs,  and  of  goats,  of  bullocks, 
of  all  the  fatlings  of  Bashan — 

22.  And  the  house  of  Israel  shall  kno^v,  that  I  am  the 
Lord  their  God  from  that  day  and  forward.  23.  And 
the  nations  shall  know,  that  the  house  of  Israel  went  into 
captivity  for  their  iniquity :  because  they  trespassed  against 
me,  therefore  hid  I  my  face  from  them,  and  gave  them 
into  the  hand  of  their  enemies :  so  fell  they  all  by  the 
sword.  24.  According  to  their  uncleanness  and  accord- 
ing to  their  transgressions  have  I  done  unto  them,  and 
hid  my  face  from  them.  25.  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
Lord  God ;  Now  will  I  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Ja- 
cob, and  have  mercy  upon  the  whole  house  of  Israel*,  and 
will  be  jealous  for  my  holy  name ;  26.  And  they  have 
borne  their  shame,  and  all  their  trespasses  whereby  they 
trespassed  against  me,  when  they  dwelt  in  their  land  in 
confident  security,  and  none  made  them  afraid.  27.  When 
I  have  brought  them  again  from  the  people,  and  gathered 

*  speak  unto  every  feathered  Joiul.']  St.  John  has  borrowed  the  imag'ery  of 
this  passage  in  his  description  of  the  overthroiu  of  the  Antichristian  Roman  con'' 
Jederacy  (Rev.  xix.  17 — 21.) :  but  a  mere  adaptation  will  not  prove  the  iden- 
tity of  the  tvio  confederacies  against  positive  argument.  This  allegory  of 
Ezekiel  has  called  forth  in  a  very  singular  manner  the  critical  powers  of  an 
unbeliever.  Voltaire  quoted  it  to  prove,  that  the  ye=ivs  of  old  times  eat  the 
flesh  of  horses  and  even  of  men  :  and,  "though  cautioned  that  not  ^evis, 
nor  men,  but  taild  beasts  and  birds,  were  invited  to  this  feast  of  slaughter, 
that  is,  to  the  consumption  of  ti\e  slain,  yet  insisted  to  the  last  on  his  strange. 
accusation."    Michaelis  cited  by  Abp.  Newcome  in  loc. 

30  ' 


234 

them  out  of  the  lands  of  their  enemies,  and  have  been 
sanctified  in  them  in  the  sight  of  many  nations  ;  28.  Then 
jjhall  they  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord  their  God,  which 
caused  them  to  be  led  into  captivity  among  the  nations : 
but  1  have  gathered  them  unto  their  o\mi  land,  and  have 
left  none  of  them  any  more  there.  29.  Neither  will  I 
hide  my  face  any  more  from  them  :  for  I  have  poured  out 
my  Spirit  upon  the  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  principal  difficulty  in  the  exposition  of  this  pro- 
phecy is  to  ascertain,  what  people^  and  what  sovereign^ 
Ezekiel  means  by  Magogs  and  Gog :  M^hethcr  they  be 
the  same,  or  not  the  same,  as  the  apocalyptic  Gog  and 
Magog  ;  whether  their  expedition  will  be  undertaken  at 
the  beginning,  or  at  the  end,  of  the  Millennium. 

Mr.  Mede  supposes,  that  they  are  not  the  same  as  the 
apocalyptic  Gog  arid  Magog,  but  only  typical  of  them ; 
that  their  expedition  takes  place  at  tlie  beginning,  not  at 
the  end,  of  the  Millennium  ;  and  that  the  iiafion  intended 
by  them  is  that  of  the  Turks.  The  reason,  which  he  as- 
signs for  his  opinion,  is  this :  that  Ezekiel's  Gog  and 
Magog  come  out  of  the  north-parts,  where  the  posterity 
of  Magog  was  scattered ;  whereas  St.  John's  Gog  and 
Magog  are  said  to  be  nations,  which  are  in  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  earth  :  that  EzekiePs  Gog  and  Alagog  are  to 
be  some  terrible  enemy,  which  should  come  against  7^- 
rael  at  the  time  of  their  return,  and  should  be  destroyed 
by  the  Lord  with  a  dreadful  slaughter;  whereas  St.  John's 
Gog  and  Magog  are  not  brought  upon  the  stage  till  the 
close  of  the  Millennium*. 

Bp.  Newton  expresses  himself  much  to  the  same  pur- 
pose as  Mr.  Mede,  though  somewhat  more  guardedly 
and  indecisively,  as  if  it  were  possible  that  the  Gog  and 
Magog  of  Ezekiel  might  be  the  same  as  the  Gog  and 
Magog  of  St.  John.  "  At  the  expiration  of  the  thousand 
years,''''  says  he,  "^^  the  restraint  shall  be  taken  off  from 
wickedness.  For  a  little  season,  as  it  was  said  before, 
Satan  shall  be  loosed  out  of  his  prison,  and  make  one  ef- 

*  Mede's  Works,  B.  ili.  C.  12.  and  B.  iv.  Epist.  41, 


23B- 

fort  more  to  re-establish  his  kingdom.  As  he  deceived 
our  first  pai'ents  in  the  paradisaical  state,  so  he  shall  have 
the  artifice  to  deceive  the  nations  in  this  millennial  king- 
dom, to  shew  that  no  state  or  condition  upon  earth  is  ex- 
empted and  secured  from  sinning.  The  nations,  whom 
he  shall  deceive,  are  described  as  living  in  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  world,  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth;  and 
they  are  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Gog  and  Magog, 
and  are  said  to  be  as  numerous  as  the  sand  of  the  sea. 
Gog  and  Magog  seem  to  have  been  formerly  the  general 
name  of  the  northern  nations  of  Europe  and  Asia,  as  the 
Scythians  have  been  since,  and  the  Tartars  are  at  present. 
In  Ezekiel  there  is  a  famous  prophecy  concerning  Gog 
and  Magog ;  and  this  prophecy  alludes  to  that  in  many 
particulars.  Both  that  of  Ezekiel  and  this  of  St.  John 
remain  yet  to  be  fulfilled ;  and  therefore  we  cannot  be 
absolutely  certain  that  they  may  not  both  relate  to  the 
same  event ;  but  it  appears  more  probable  that  they  re- 
late to  different  events.  The  one  is  expected  to  take  ef- 
fect before,  but  the  other  will  not  take  place,  till  after  the 
Millennium.  Gog  and  Magog  in  Ezekiel  are  said  ex- 
pressly to  come  from  the  north-quarters  and  the  north- 
parts  ;  but  in  St.  John  they  come  from  the  four  quarters 
or  corners  of  the  earth.  Gog  and  Magog  in  Ezekiel 
bend  their  forces  against  the  Jews  resettled  in  their  own 
land ;  but  in  St.  John  they  march  up  against  the  saints 
and  church  of  God  in  general.  Gog  and  Magog  in  Eze- 
kiel are  with  very  good  reason  supposed  to  be  the  Turks; 
but  the  Turks  are  the  authors  of  the  second  woe ;  and  the 
second  woe  is  past  before  the  third  woe;  and  the  third 
zvoe  long  precedes  the  times  here  treated  of.  It  may 
therefore  be  concluded,  that  Gog  and  Magog,  as  well  as 
Sodom  and  Egypt  and  Babylon,  are  mystic  names  in  this 
book ;  and  the  last  enemies  of  the  Christian  church  are 
so  denominated,  because  Gog  and  Magog  appear  to  be 
the  last  enemies  of  the  Jewish  nation*." 

To  these  opinions  I  can  by  no  means  subscribe  f.     In 
the  language  of  prophecy,  a  type  is  usually  borrowed  from 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xx. 

f  Mr.  Lowman  and  Abp.  Newcoms  suppose,  like  myself,  that  the  Geg  and 
Magog  of  Ezeljiel  are  tUe  same  aS  the  Cog  and  Magog  of  St.  John.     But,  ^s 


^36 

some  state  eithct  already  destroyed  or  shortly  about  to  be 
destroyed,  and  applied  to  a  nation  the  destruction  of  which 
is  remotely  future.  Thus  Tyre,  Sodom,  Babylon,  and 
Egypt,  are  all  used  as  types  of  the  spiritual  empire  of  the 
Papacy :  and  no  confusion  can  arise  from  such  a  mode 
of  speaking,  because  all  these  powers  had  either  fallen 
when  the  predictions  that  literally  concerned  them  were 
delivered,  or  fell  shortly  after.  But,  if  we  suppose  Eze- 
kiePs  Gog  and  Magog  to  be  typical  of  St.  John's  Gog 
and  Magog,  we  must  then  admit,  that  a  power,  the  de- 
struction of  which  was  most  remotely  future  even  iu  the 
days  of  the  apostle,  may  be  typical  of  another  power  the 
destruction  of  which  is  still  more  remotely  future  ;  and 
consequently  we  must  advance  through  an  infinite  series 
of  types  and  antitypes,  till  we  are  bewildered  in  a  confu- 
sion of  ideas  from  which  it  will  be  no  easy  matter  to  ex- 
tricate ourselves.  Viewing  the  matter  then  in  this  light, 
I  can  scarcely  think  it  probable,  that  St.  John  would  adopt 
a  type  so  necessarily  and  so  needlessly  ambiguous.  In 
the  case  of  his  using  Babylon  as  a  type,  all  is  perfectly 
clear:  but  can  an  instance  be  produced  in  the  whole 
Bible,  except  the  present  as  it  is  explained  by  Mr.  Mede 
and  Bp.  Newton,  in  which  a  ?iation,  the  very  existence 
of  which  was  future  when  St.  John  wrote  (supposing 
with  these  commentators  that  Ezekiel's  Gog  and  Magog 
are  the  Turks  J,  is  used  to  typify  another  nation,  the  rise 
of  which  is  yet  more  remotely  future  ? 

On  this  argument  however  I  do  not  wish  to  lay  too 
great  a  stress  ;  for  wdiat  appears  to  myself  a  complete  an- 

they  do  not  bring  forward  any  arg-uments  to  prove  the  point,  what  I  am  about 
to  say  upon  it  will  not  be  altogether  superfluous.  See  Lowman's  Paraph,  of 
the  Revelation  in  loc.  and  Abp.  Nevvcome's  Ezek.  xxxviii.  8,  22.  His  grace 
very  justly  refers  the  latter  of  these  verses  to  Rev.  xx.  8,  9  :  but  I  cannot  think 
that  the  enemies,  who  assail  the  yeivs  at  the  close  of  the  Millennium,  will  be 
a  mixture  of  Pagans  and  Mohammedans  ;  because  the  religion  of  Mohammed, 
or  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat,  will  be  destroyed  previous  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennium.  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  the  Rabbies  them- 
selves consider  ^Ae  ivar  of  Gog  and  Magog  to  be  perfectly  distinct  from,  and 
posterior  to,  the  destruction  of  theyourtk  or  Jioman  beast;  but  they  conceive 
that  it  will  take  place  soon  after  their  restoration.  In  this  particular,  as  it 
appears  from  the  Apocalypse,  they  are  mistaken.  Indeed,  from  the  data  af- 
forded them  by  Ezekiel,  they  had  no  right  to  draw  such  a  conclusion.  He 
simply  places  the  war  of  Gog  and  Magog  after  the  destruction  of  the  mystic 
Edom,  and  after  the  restoration  of  the  whole  house  of  Israel ;  hoiv  long  after, 
he  no  where  determines.    Mede's  AVorks,  B.  iv.  Epist.  24. 


237 

©mally  in  the  very  principle  of  typical  language,  may  not 
strike  others  with  equal  force  :  let  us  see  then  how  far 
the  assertion,  that  EzekieVs  Gog  a?id  Magog  will  invade 
Palestine  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and 
consequently  previous  to  the  commejicement  of  the  Millen- 
nium, is  well  founded.  Now  so  far  is  this  assertion  from 
being  at  all  warranted  by  any  thing  which  the  prophet 
says,  that  he  leads  us  to  conclude  tliat  the  very  reverse  of 
it  is  the  truth.  He  represents  both  the  house  of  Judah 
and  the  house  of  Israel  as  having  coalesced  into  one  peo- 
ple ;  as  having  both  been  restored  a  considerable  length  of 
time,  for  they  are  said  to  have  gotten  cattle  and  goods,  to 
have  rebuilt  their  desolate  cities,  and  to  be  dwelling  in 
the  land  in  all  the  carelessness  of  confident  security  :  that 
is  to  say,  he  represents  them  as  being  in  that  very  state 
of  confident  security,  with  which  God  had  promised  to 
bless  them  when  the  rankling  thorn  of  all  their  enemies 
should  have  been  removed  *.  Such  then  is  the  condi- 
tion, in  which  the  united  kingdom  of  Judah  a?id  Israel  wWi 
be  at  the  era  of  t/ie  great  invasion  of  Gog  and  Magog. 
Now  the  whole  of  this  certainly  implies,  that  the  inva- 
sion will  take  place  after  the  Millennium  has  commenc- 
ed :  but,  if  it  take  place  after  the  Millennium  has  com- 
menced, we  must  necessarily  fix  it  either  to  some  inde- 
terminate period  in  the  course  of  the  Millennium,  or  to  the 
end  of  the  Millennium.  We  learn  however  from  St.  John, 
that  nothing  of  the  kind  will  take  place  in  the  course  of 
the  Millennium :  it  follows  therefore,  that  it  must  take 
place  at  the  end  of  it.  This  matter  will  be  yet  more  de- 
cidedly evident,  if  we  consider  that  Ezekiel  places  the  in- 
vasion of  Gog  and  Magog  after  the  return  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  its  coalition  with  the  house  of  Judah.  Now 
we  learn  from  Isaiah,  that  Judah  will  be  first  restored ; 
that  he  will  be  attacked  by  a  confederacy  of  God^s  ene- 
mies ;  that  those  enemies  will  be  completely  overthrown ; 
that  such  as  escape  will  be  scattered  into  all  countries  ; 
and  that  they  will  be  an  instrument  of  bringing  about  the 
subsequent  restoration  oi  Israel -f.  Since  then  Gog  and 
Magog  are  to  invade  Palestine  after  the  restoration,  not 

•  Ezek.  sxviii.24, 25, 2G.  r  Isaiah  Ixv!,  5-^-24. 


238 

only  of  Judah^  but  of  Israel ;  since  consequently  they  arc 
to  invade  it,  not  previous^hut  subsequent,  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennium  ;  and  since  they  are  to  invade 
it  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy 
(which  synchronizes  with  the  restoration  ofJudah  and  pre- 
cedes that  of  Israel),  when  the  united  tribes  have  long 
been  dwelling  confidently  in  their  own  land :  I  see  not 
what  they  can  be  except  the  Gog  and  Magog  of  St.  John  *. 
But  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  urge,  that  Ezekiel's 
Gog  a?id  Magog  come  from  the  north,  whereas  St  John's 
Gog  and  Ma'-'og  come  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth; 
and  that  the  former  attack  the  Jews  only,  whereas  the  lat- 
ter attack  the  saints  and  church  of  God  in  general.  To 
this  I  reply,  that  Ezekiel  no  doubt  represents  Gog  and 
Magog  as  issuing  from  the  northern  regions  of  Rosh, 
Mesech  or  Mosoch,  and  Tubal ;  but  he  likewise  repre- 
sents the  invading  army  as  composed,  not  only  of  these 
northern  warriors,  but  of  auxiliaries  both  from  the  east, 
the  south,  and  the  west.  Gog  is  indeed  the  chief  of  the 
confederacy,  but  he  musters  under  his  banners  the  future 
inhabitants  of  Persia,  Ethiopia,  and  Libya.  He  comes 
up  as  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land,  both  he  and  all  his  bands 
from  their  place  out  of  the  north-parts,  and  many  people 
with  him  from  the  three  other  quarters  of  the  globe.  And, 
when  he  thus  comes  up  in  number  like  the  sand  of  the 
sea,  against  whom  is  his  attack  dii£cted  ?  Ezekiel  tells 
us.  The  Israelites  noxv  divelling  confidently  in  their  ow?i 
land ;  St.  John  tells  us,  The  camp  of  the  saints,  and  the 
beloved  city.     Now  where  is  the  fancied  discordance  be- 

*  Though  Mr.  Lowth  tliinks  wiUi  Mr.  Mede,  that  Ezekiel's  Gog  and  Magog 
are  most  probably  the  Turks,  yet  he  fully  acknowledg'es  that  their  invasion  of 
Palestine  will  take  place  some  time  after  the  restoration  of  the  y^Ji's  ;  a  cir- 
cumstance, wliich  amply  proves,  as  1  shall  presently  shew,  that  tliey  cannot 
be  either  the  Turks  or  the  Antichristian  confederacy,  and  consequently  that 
they  must  be  the  same  as  St.  John's  Gog  and  Magog.  Commenting'  on  Ezek. 
xxxviii.  8,  Mr.  Lowtli  justly  observes,  that  "the  sense  is,  that,  after  the  re- 
turn  of  the  people  of  iirae/  into  their  own  country  and  their  having  lived 
there  for  some  time  in  peace  and  safety,  this  enemy  will  think  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  their  security,  and  fiill  upon  them  imexpectedly."  He  adds,  that 
ver.  11  contains  "  a  description  of  a  people  tliat  live  securely  without  any  ap- 
prehension of  danger  Compare  Jerem.  xlix.  .jl."  And  he  further  remarks, 
that  hwer.  12.  yudea  is  described  as  a  country  that  lay  desolate  before  the 
jfeii's*  return  into  it.  After  it  had  been  for  some  time  reinhabited,  Gog  and 
his  associates  designed  to  fall  upon  it  with  all  their  forces,"  See  likewisfe 
his  Comment,  on  ver.  14. 


239 

tween  these  two  accounts  ?  If  the  Jews  arc  to  be  restor- 
ed to  the  countiy  of  their  fathers,  and  to  dwell  there  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  Millennium,  the  beloved  city  can 
only  be  Jerusalem  ;  and,  if  the  Jews  are  to  be  converted 
to  Christianity,  they  are  undoubtedly,  though  perhaps^ 
not  exclusively,  the  saints  that  inhabit  that  beloved  city. 
It  appears  then,  that  both  Ezekiel  and  St.  John  equally 
foretell  an  invasion  of  Palestine  by  some  powers  which 
they  equally  term  Gog  and  Magog  ;  that  this  invasion  is 
to  take  place  ajiei'  the  Millennium  has  commenced ;  and 
that  it  is  totally  to  fail  of  success,  God  raining  down  up- 
on the  conductors  of  it  fire  from  heaven  *.  Such  being 
the  case,  what  authority  have  we  for  saying,  that  the  one 
Gog  and  Alagog  is  a  type  of  the  other  ;  that  the  two  in- 
vasions are  two  entirely  different  events ;  and  that  they 
take  place,  the  one  at  the  beginning  and  the  other  at  the 
end  of  the  Millennium  ? 

If  from  this  statement  it  be  allowed,  that  the  expedi- 
tioji  of  Gog  and  Magogs  predicted  by  Ezekiel,  takes 
place  at  the  end  of  the  Millennium,  and  is  consequently 
the  same  as  that  predicted  by  St.  John,  it  will  be  almost 
superfluous  to  shew  that  Ezekiel's  Gog  and  Magog  can- 
not be  the  Turks.  Nevertheless,  that  my  position  may 
be  the  more  fully  established,  I  shall  point  out  why  it  is 
utterly  impossible  that  they  should  be  the  Turks,  even  if 
we  place  their  expedition  at  the  era  of  the  restoratio?t  of 
the  Jews,  and  immediately  before  the  commencement  of 
the  Millennium.  Mr.  Mede  himself  supposes  (what  I 
think,  consistently  with  the  analogy  of  the  apocalyptic 
phraseology,  cannot  be  doubted  f),  that  the  exhaustion 
of  the  Euphrates  under  the  sixth  vial  means  the  subver- 
sion of  the  Turkish  empire  ;  and  he  inclmes  to  believe 
(very  justly,  in  my  opinion),  that  the  kings,  for  whom  a 
way  is  prepared  by  this  exhaustion,  are  the  Jews,  or  (to 
speak  more  accurately)  the  Israelites,  scattered  through 
the  East.  Now,  if  such  an  interpretation  be  well-found- 
ed, it  is  obvious,  that  the  Ottoman  monarchy  will  be  sub- 
verted previous  even  to  the  beginning  of  the  restoration 

*  Compare  Ezek.  sxxviii.  22.  with  Rev.  xx.  9.  and  see  Abp.  Newcome's^ 
Ezek.  in  loc. 
t  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  I'i&O  yean,  vol.  ii.  p.  344  ("2(1  Editj,  p.  381;) 


^2i6 

ol'  the  Israelites,  And  it  is  equally  obvious,  that  it  will 
be  subverted  previous  to  the  hcgmning  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Jeivs:  because  it  will  be  subverted  before  the  con- 
federacy of  the  Roman  beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  is  gathered  to  Armageddon ;  which 
confederacy  will  be  broken  contemporaneoushj  with  the 
return  of  the  Jeivs,  under  the  seve?ith  vial,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  1260  years  *.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  manifest, 
that  the  Turks  can  have  no  concern,  at  least  nationally, 
in  an  invasion  of  Palestine  at  the  era  either  of  the  resto- 
ration of  Judah  or  of  Israel  (even  allowing,  that  the  expe- 
dition of  EzekiePs  Gog  and  Magog  then  takes  place) ; 
and  for  this  plain  reason  :  they  will  have  been  broken  as 
a  people  a  certain  length  of  time  before  either  the  Jews 
or  the  Israelites  even  begin  to  return  ;  and  their  subver- 
sion will  be  instrumental  in  preparing  a  way  for  the  Is- 
raelites at  least  to  return.  But,  according  to  Ezekiel,  the 
expedition  of  Gog  and  Magog  takes  place  after  the  resto- 
ration both  of  Israel  and  Judah,  and  when  they  have  long 
been  dwelling  confidently  in  their  land :  the  restoration  of 
Israel  however  does  not  take  place  till  after  the  over- 
throw of  the  Antichristian  confederacy ;  and  the  very 
gathering  together  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy  to  the 
place  of  its  destruction  does  not  commence  till  after  the 
overthrow  of  the  Ottoman  empire  f :  what  possible  con- 
nection then  can  Gog  and  Magog  have  with  the  Turks, 
whether  we  place  their  expedition  before  or  after  the 
Millennium  ?  A  commentator,  who  lives  in  the  present 
day,  might  further  observe,  that  we  have  little  cause  in- 
deed to  believe  that  Turkey  will  ever  head%  a  grand  ex- 
pedition like  that  of  Ezekiel's  Gog  and  Magog:  but  mere 
probabilities  or  improbabilities,  deduced  from  the  passing 
aspect  of  affairs,  and  as  yet  hid  in  futurity,  I  am  unwil- 
ling to  build  upon ;  we  have  sufficiently  decisive  scrip- 
tural evidence  without  them. 

*  Compare  Dan.  xi.  40,  45  xii.  1,  6,  7 — Rev.  xiii.  5.  xvi.  17.xlx.  19,  20. 

t  Isaiah  Ixvi.  19,  20— Rev.  xvi.  12—16. 

I  It  is  not  impossible,  that  some  individual  Turks  and  other  Mahommedans 
may  be  in  the  army  o?  Antichrist ;  but  this  falls  very  far  short  of  Ezekiel's  de- 
scription, which  plainly  represents  Gog,  whoever  he  may  be,  as  the  head  of  &n 
expedition  undertaken  by  various  different  nations. 


241 

Here  it  may  be  asked,  How  are  we  to  understand  the 
reference  which  Ezekiel  himself  gives  us  to  others  who 
have  foretold  this  same  war  of  Gog  and  Magog,  if  we 
place  it  at  the  end  rather  than  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Millennium  ?  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Art  not  thou  he, 
of  whom  I  have  spoken  in  old  time  by  my  servants  the 
prophets  of  Israel,  which  prophesied  in  those  days  many 
years,  that  I  would  bring  thee  against  them?"  Mr.  Mede 
is  of  opinion,  that  Ezekiel  alludes  in  this  passage  to 
Jsaiah  xxvii.  1.  with  the  two  last  verses  of  the  foregoing 
chapter;  to  Jeremiah  xxx.  23,  24;  to  Joel  iii.  1.  and  the 
following  verses ;  and  to  Micah  v.  5,  6,  9,  15.  In  all 
these  references  I  certainly  think  Mr.  Mede  mistaken, 
because  I  believe  that  the  xvar  of  Gog  and  Magog  will 
take  place  at  the  close  of  the  Millennium,  whereas  the 
events  predicted  in  the  passages  to  which  he  refers  will 
come  to  pass  immediately  before  the  commenceinent  of 
the  Millennium.  Isaiah  xxvii.  1.  relates  to  the  subversion 
of  the  Egyptian  government^  at  the  period  of  the  restora- 
tion ofJudahy  and  during  the  time  of  unexampled  trouble 
mentioned  by  Daniel*.  Jeremiah  xxx.  23,  24.  relates 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy  at  the 
same  era,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  end  of  the  1260  years:  and, 
after  it  is  thus  overthrown,  the  prophet  foretells,  in  per- 
fect accordance  with  Isaiah  f,  the  restoratioji  of  Ephraim 
or  the  Jdngdom  of  the  ten  tribes.  Joel  iii.  1.  likewise 
relates  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy. 
And  Micah  v.  5,  6,  9,  15,  equally  relates  to  the  same 
event,  describing  the  chief  of  the  Roman  Babylon,  as  he 
is  elsewhere  described  by  Isaiah  |,  under  the  mystic 
name  of  the  Assyrian.  On  the  whole,  since  \yq.  undoubt- 
edly find  nothing  in  our  present  Hebrew  Scriptures  that 
at  all  resembles  the  remarkable  prophecy  of  Ezekiel 
respecting  Gog  and  Magog  ;  whence  Eichhorn  naturally 
observed,  that,  as  far  as  we  can  discern,  this  great  piece 
is  entirely  new  and  peculiarly  his  own  \ :  on  the  whole,  I 

*  Compare  Isaiah  xi.  10 — 16.  xvU.  xvlii.  six.  xxvl.  19,  20,  21.  xxvii.  1,  6,  7, 
12,  13.  Dan.  xi.  42,  43.  xii.  1,  2,  7. 

f  Isaiah  Ixvi.  7 — 24.  i  Isai.ah  xiv.  4,  25. 

§  "  In  7iiany  poems,  as  far  as  we  can  discern,  he  is  really  new.     The  great, 
piece  of  Gog  and  Magog  is  his  own."     Eiclihoi-n's  Introduct.  to  tlie  Old  Tes- 
'amont.  cited  bv  Ahp.  Newrome,  Pref  to  E/picicU  p.  x'cvii. 
.31 


242 

sa\ ,  Abp.  Newcomers  opinion  seems  to  mc  the  most  i^ro- 
bable,  that  the  prophets  of  Israel,  aJUided  to  by  Ezekiel, 
are  those,  "  whose  predictions  on  this  subject  were  never 
committed  to  writing,  or  are  now  lost  *."  Yet  I  think 
we  may  discover  a  remote  hint  of  the  war  of  Gog  and 
Magog  in  Daniel  vii.  12,  13,  14.  The  prophet,  having 
foretold  the  destruction  of  the  great  Roman  beast  in  all 
his  members  and  of  his  tyrannical  Uttle  horn,  in  other 
words,  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy  of  the  beast,  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth,  informs 
us  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts j  namely  the  Babyloni- 
an, the  Medo- Persian,  and  the  Macedonian,  that,  although 
their  dominion  should  be  taken  away,  yet  their  lives 
should  be  prolonged  for  a  season  and  a  time ;  and  he 
afterwards  declares,  that  he  beheld  in  the  night  visions 
the  son  of  man  cominsr  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  How 
then  can  we  understand  the  prolongation  of  the  lives  of 
these  three  beasts  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  con- 
federacy by  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  to  the  period  of  a 
certain  subsequent  revelation  of  the  Son  of  man,  except 
that  the  future  inhabitants  of  those  three  empires  should 
be  preserved  after  the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  and  dur- 
ing the  millennian  reign  of  the  saints,  and  that  they  should 
at  length  make  their  appearance  upon  the  stage  as  a  se- 
cond grand  Antichristian  confederacy  termed  by  Ezekiel 
and  St.  John  Gog  and  Magog  ? 

Still  on  a  subject,  so  confessedly  difficult  and  myste- 
rious as  that  respecting  which  we  are  treating,  the  reader 
may  continue  to  have  his  doubts,  and  may  be  disposed 
to  ask  ;  TFhy  may  not  J^zekiePs  Gog  and  Magog  be,  not 
indeed  the  Turks,  for  that  is  plainly  impossiblcj  but  the 
grfcat  Antichristian  confederacy  which  rvill  be  destroyed 
at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  Judah  ?  They  have  cer- 
tainly many  points  of  resemblance  in  comnioji :  they  both 
invade  Palestine  from  the  north  ;  they  both  attack  the 
Jews ;  and  they  both  perish  partly  supernattwally,  and 
partly  by  internal  discord^.  TFhy  then  may  we  not  sup- 
pose them  to  be  the  same:  and  consequently  that  Mr.  Mede 
is  at  least  right  in  that  part  of  his  scheme,  which  makc^ 

Traiislalion  of  Ezekiel  in  loc. 
1  Compare  Ezck.  xxwiii.  'Jl,  22.  with  Zccliar.  xii.  4.  xiv.  3,  4,  12,  1"^ 


243 

the  Gog  and  Magog  of  Ezekiel  to  be  entirely  different 
from  the  Gog  and  Magog  o/*/SV.  John  ? 

To  this  I  answer,  that  the  two  expeditions  of  Ezeki- 
el's  Gog  and  Magog  and  the  Antichristian  coiifederacij 
certainly  resemble  each  other  in  these  points,  although 
even  in  these  the  resemblance  is  far  from  being  perfect ; 
for  Gog  ami  Magog  invade  Palestine,  not  merely  from 
the  norths  but  (as  it  appears  from  the  description  of  their 
allies)  from  the  east,  the  south,  and  the  west,  that  is  (in 
the  language  of  St.  John)  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth  ;  whereas  the  Antichristian  confederacy  invades  Pa- 
lestine solely  from  the  north,  and,  after  passing  through  it 
in  tire  full  tide  of  success,  subjugates  Egypt,  Libya,  and 
Ethiopia*.  But,  whatever /?arfi«/ resemblance  there  may 
be  between  the  two  expeditions,  since  they  differ  in  the 
three  grand  points  of  time,  oi persons,  and  of  circumstan- 
ces, it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  they  can  be  identifi- 
ed— Their  difference  in  time  has  already  been  shewn. 
The  Antichristian  expedition  takes  place  during  the  resto- 
ration of  Judah,  and  prior  to  the  restoration  of  Israel  : 
the  Magogian  expedition  takes  place  after  the  restoration 
both  of  Judah  and  Israel,  after  they  have  coalesced  into 
one  people,  after  they  have  been  long  securely  dwelling 
in  their  own  land  under  David  their  prince — Their  dif- 
ference in  the  persons,  respectively  engaged  in  each,  is 
even  yet  more  remarkable.  The  Jezvs  begin  to  be  re- 
stored at  the  close  of  the  1260  years  ;  the  power  of  the 
Roman  beast  and  his  little  horn  begins  to  be  broken  at 
the  same  period ;  the  confederacy  of  the  Roman  beast,  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  khjgs  of  the  Latin  earth,  begins 
to  be  overthrown  under  the  seventh  vial,  likewise  at  the 
same  period  ;  the  infidel  king,  or  the  atheistical  Anti- 
christ of  the  last  days,  comes  to  his  end  also  at  the  same 
period ;  the  Jews  themselves,  as  we  have  seen,  under- 
stand the  mystic  Edom,  which  the  Lord  destroys  at  the 
time  of  their  restoration,  to  mean  the  Roman  empire: 
from  all  which  we  must  unavoidably  conclude,  that  the 
great  confederacy,  which  is  destined  to  be  overthrown  at 
the  close  of  the  1260  years,  and  which  is  noticed  more  or 

*  Dan.  xi,  43.  • 


2U 

less  explicitly  by  almost  every  prophet  who  foretells  the 
return  of  Judah,  will  be  composed  of  powers  situated 
within  the  limits  of  the  anciejit  Roman  empire.     If  then 
Ezekiel's  Gog  a?id  Magog  be  the  same  as  the  Antichris- 
t'lan  confederacy,  we  may  expect  to  find  both  them  and 
their  allies  described  as  being  Roman  powers,  and  as  an- 
swering exactly  to  the  ten-horned  beast,  the  little  horn  or 
false  prophet,  the  infidel  king,  and  his  associated  vassal 
kings.  Not  the  least  similarity  however  can  be  discover- 
ed between  the  persons  who  compose  the  confederacy  of 
Gog  and  Magog,  and  those  who  compose  the  confederacy 
of  Antichrist,     On  the  contrary,  as  the  Antichristian  con- 
federacy is  plainly  a  Ro??ian  one  ;  so  the  Alagogian  con- 
federacy does  not  comprehend  a  siiigle  Roman  power,  but 
is  tntirely  composed  of  the  relics  of  the  three  first  em- 
pires, which  Daniel  assures  us  should  have  their  lives  pre- 
served after  the  destruction  of  the  Roman  beast,  though 
their  dominion  of  power  of  injuring  the  Church  should 
be  taken  away.     According  to  Ezekiel,  the  confederacy 
of  Gog  will  consist  of  Magog,  Rosh,  Mesech,  Tubal,  Per- 
sia, Cash,  Phut,  Gomer,  and  Togarmah.     Now  let  the 
reader  consult  the  map  which  Bochart  has  prefixed  to  the 
first  book  of  his  Sacred  Geography,  and  he  will  find  eveiy 
one  of  these  nations  seated  within  the  limits  of  the  three 
first  great  empires,  although  some  of  their  colonies  doubt- 
less extended  beyond  them.     In  Asia  Minor  he  will  per- 
ceive Gomer,  Tubal,  and  Togarmah  ;  close  to  Tubal  he 
will  see  the  Moschic  hills;  a  small  distance  further  east  he 
will  find  7?o^A  or  Rhos;  due  north  oi  Rosh,  Mesech,  Gog 
and  Magog  ;  in  Syria,  another  colony  of  Magog  ;  in  the 
region  of  Babylon  and  in  Arabia,  Chut  or  Cush  *  ;  and 

*  "  Nos  asserimtis  omnes  Chusi  filios,  quos  hic  nominat  IMoses  habitasse 
circa  mare  Fersicum,  prseter  Nemi'odum,  quern  Babylonem  migrasse  testatur 
Moses"  (Bochart.  Geog.  Sacr.  L.  iv.  C.  3.).  In  after  ages  tlie  posterity  of 
this  patriarch  astonishingly  spread  themselves.  We  find  them  in  Colchis  upon 
the  Euxine  ;  in  Egj'pt;  in  Thrace,  in  Thessaly,  and  in  Greece,  the  seat  of  the 
third  great  empire  ;  in  Babylon  and  in  Persiy,  the  two  other  great  empires. 
(See  Bryant's  Anal.  vol.  iii.  p.  443—601.).  "  The  laird  of  Cush  in  holy  Writ 
(commonly,  but  by  mistake,  rendered  Ethiopia  J  is  properly  th.at  district  of 
Arabia,  where  the  sons  of  Cush  fir.st  settled.  But,  as  this  race  multiplied 
exceedingly,  and  spread,  not  only  into  otlier  parts  of  Arabia,  but  eastward, 
round  the  head  of  the  Persian  gulph,  to  the  confines  of  Susiana ;  and  west- 
ward, across  the  Arabi.an  g'ulj^h,  into  the  region  since  called  Abyssinia,  which 
extended  along  the  coast  from  Plolemais  to  Arsinoe,  and  inland  \o  the  very 


245 

iu  Africa  immediately  west  of  Egypt,  Phut.     Peres  or 
Persia,  which  completes  EzekiePs  catalogue,  was  itself 
the  head  of  the  second  of  the  four  great  empires.  Having 
thus  ascertained  the  situation  of  these  powers,  let  the  rea- 
der next  fix  his  eye  upon  Palestine,  and  imagine  a  joint 
invasion  of  it  to  take  place  from  all  these  coiuitries  at 
once ;  and  he  will  plainly  see  how  exactly  St.  John's  ac- 
count tallies  with  Ezekiel's,  that  is  to  say,  he  will  per- 
ceive that  an  invasion  of  Palestine  jointly  undertaken  by 
the  nations  wnich  Ezekiel  enumerates  would  necessarily 
come  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  north,  south, 
east,  and  west.  Since  then  the  Antichristian  confederacy  is 
a  Roman  one,  and  since  the  Magogiaii  confederacy  is  not 
a  Roman  one,  they  certainly  cannot  be  the  same.     And, 
since  the  Magogian  confederacy  is  composed  of  the  re- 
lics of  the  three  first  empires,  since  the  lives  of  those 
empires  are  to  be  preserved  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire,  and  since  the  confederacy  itself  is  not  to  be  formed 
till  some  time  after  the  restoration  of  Israel;  I  know  not 
what  it  can  be  except  the  confederacij ,  which  St.  John 
similarly  terms  Gog  and  Magog  ^ — The  circumstantial 
difference  between  the  Antichristian  and  the  Magogian 
confederacies  will  close  the  argument.     The  Antichristian 

sources  of  the  Nile  :  the  land  ofCush  Is  often  taken  more  larg-ely  for  a  great 
tract  of  country,  not  only  comprehending  the  whole  of  Arabia  Felix,  but  hav- 
ing for  its  eastern  boundary  the  branch  of  the  Tigris  below  the  town  of  Asia, 
and  for  its  western  boundary  the  Nile."  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah 
xvili.  p.  93. 

*  The  discussion  of  this  interesting  propliecy  serves  to  shew,  that  I  was 
right  in  lassigning  the  expedition,  foretold  in  Dan.  xi.  40—45,  to  the  infidel 
king,  and  not  (with  Bp.  Newton)  to  the  king  of  the  North.  Since  that  expedi- 
tion is  contemporary  with  the  restoration  ofjudah  at  the  close  of  the  l^SQ  years 
(Dan.  xii.  1,7.),  it  can  only  be  an  expedition  undertaken  hy  some  Soman 
poiver,  which  shall  then  either  be  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  or  at  least  his  most 
povjerfil  horn.  Now  the  ivilfil  king  is  allowed  on  all  hands  to  be  a  JRotnan 
poxver,  whether  he  be  the  empire  in  general,  the  Pope,  or  Antichristian  France; 
whereas  the  northern  king  seems  plainly  not  to  be  a  Rovian  poiver.  But  the 
expedition  during  the  restoration  of  the  yeivs  is  to  be  undertaken  by  a  Ronnan 
povier ;  and  the  luilful  king,  confessedly  a  Fonan  po^xer,  is  at  this  very  era 
engaged  in  hostilities  with  the  northern  king :  hence  it  is  plain,  that,  in  or- 
der to  avoid  a  palpable  contradiction,  we  must  ascribe  the  expedition  in 
question,  not  to  the  northern  king,  but  to  the  viilful  king.  Thus,  wiiat  the  con- 
cinnity  of  Daniel's  prophecy  evidently  required,  is  proved  by  the  instrumen- 
tality of  another  prophecy.  The  only  expedition  into  Palestine  at  the  era  of 
■the  restoration  of  the  ^eius  is  the  Rovian  one  ■  the  expedition  therefore,  here 
predicted  by  Daniel,  must  undoubtedly  be  ascribed  to  the  Antichristian  Ro- 
vnn  king,  not  to  his  northern  antagonist.  Sec  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  yxars, 
yol.  i.  p.  352—356     (2d  Edit.  p.  384—400.) 


246 

confederacy  will  at  first  prove  successful,  will  overrup 
the  whole  of  Palestine,  will  take  Jerusalem,  will  conquer 
Egypt,  and  will  reduce  the  Libyans  and  Cushim  to  some 
kind  of  subjection*.  The  Magogian  confederacy  will 
not  be  at  all  successful :  at  least  Ezekiel  does  not  give 
us  the  slightest  hint  that  it  will ;  and  St.  John,  if  it  be 
allowed  that  he  speaks  of  it,  explicitly  declares,  that, 
although  it  will  encamp  around  the  beloved  city,  it  shall 
not  be  able  to  take  it,  but  shall  be  destroyed  by  fire  from 
heaven.  Of  the  Antichyistian  confederacy  a  third  part 
will  be  spared  and  converted,  and  when  scattered  through 
all  nations  will  be  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  re- 
storation of  Israel^.  Of  the  Magogian  confederacy  a  sixth 
part  only  will  be  spared;  for,  although  God  will  not  even 
then  forget  to  be  merciful,  yet  the  superior  guilt  of  this 
last,  as  having  the  fate  of  its  audacious  precursor  before 
its  eyes,  and  therefore  not  being  able  to  plead  an  equal 
degree  of  ignorance,  will  doubtless  deserve  a  more  se- 
vere punishment  I . 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is  this  :  since  the  Magogian  con- 
federacy of  Ezekiel  can  neither  be  the  Ottomon  empire^ 
nor  the  Roman  Antichristian  confederacy ;  since  it  does 
not  commence  its  expedition  till  so  long  afi;er  the  resto- 
ration both  of  Judah  and  Israel^  that  they  have  coalesced 

*  Isaiah  xi.  15.  xix.  4.  xxvii.  12.  Dan.  xl.  41 — 45.    Zechar.  x.  11.  xiv.  2. 

f  Compare  Zechar.  xiii.  8.  and  Isaiah  Ixvi.  19. 

%  Ezek.  xxxix.  2.  It  is  proper  however  to  observe,  tliat  the  word  v.'ifti,  ren- 
dered by  our  translators  ta  leave  a  sixth  part,  is  rendered  by  the  lxx  as 
meaning'  to  lead,  by  the  Vulgate  to  bring  out,  and  by  the  Targum  to  seduce. 
But  in  this  case  the  difference  will  still  be  no  less  strikint^  between  the  fate  of 
"Ae  fao  covfederaciea  ;  for  of  the  one  we  are  plainly  taug-ht  that  a  third  part 
shall  be  spared,  whereas  of  the  other  we  may  infer  that  o//  will  perish  (See 
Ezek.  xxxviii.  21,  22.  xxxix.  4,  5,  9—16.).  Buxtorf  translates  the  word,  to 
drag  ivith  a  six-pronged  hook,  supposing-  it  to  allude  to  Chap,  xxxviii.  4  :  and 
R.  D.  Kimchi,  to  afflict  vsith  a  six-fold  punishment,  supposing-  it  to  allude  to 
the  six  plag-ues  mentioned  in  Chap,  xxxviii.  22.  The  fact  is,  the  word  only 
occurs  once  in  the  whole  Bible  :  hence  we  have  this  uncertainty  of  interpre- 
tation, and  hence  I  did  not  think  myself  authorized  in  rejecting  our  present 
translation.  Yet,  when  we  recollect  that  the  destruction  of  Gog  is  at  the  end 
of  the  Millennium,  and  immediately  before  the  general  day  of  judgment,  I 
cannot  refrain  from  thinking,  that  our  translation  (although  I  have  retained 
it)  is  of  all  the  otiiers  the  least  likely  to  be  the  right  one.  The  most  obvious 
derivation  of  KCB'  is  nevertlieless  from  cu'  six;  whence  I  much  incline  to 
think,  that  Buxtorf's  interpretation  is  the  best.  Kimclii's  seems  too  much 
laboured,  and  too  far  fetched.  .A.bp.  Newcome  retains,  as  I  have  thought 
;t  most  prudent  to  do,  our  common  English  version. 


247 

into  one  people,  and  are  dwelling  securely  in  their  land; 
since  therefore  it  must  begin  to  act  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennium  ;  since  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  that  it  will  not  begin  to  act  during  the  Millenni- 
um, so  that  one  part  of  the  Millennium  should  precede 
and  the  other  succeed  it ;  since  consequently  it  will  not 
begin  to  act  till  the  close  of  the  Millennium ;  since  we 
find  it  composed  of  the  relics  of  the  three  first  empires, 
the  lives  of  which  Daniel  declares  shall  be  preserved  af- 
ter the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  beast ^  and  therefore  during 
the  Millennium,  for  there  is  no  other  period  during  which 
they  can  be  preserved,  if  they  be  preserved  beyond  the 
destruction  of  the  Roman  beast ;  since  St.  John  predicts, 
that,  at  this  very  era,  namely  the  close  of  the  Millennium^ 
when  we  may  expect  the  expedition  of  Ezekiel's  Gog  and 
Magog  to  be  undertaken,  a  similar  expedition  will  be  un- 
dertaken by  a  confederacy  which  he  similarly  terms  Gog 
and  Magog,  and  that  too  from  the  regions  marked  out 
by  Ezekiel,  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth ;  and  lastly, 
since  both  Ezekiel  and  St.  John  agree,  that  each  expedi- 
tion will  totally  fail  of  success,  and  that  the  respective 
Gog  and  Magog  of  each  will  be  miraculously  destroyed 
by  lire  from  heaven :  when  the  whole  argument  in  short 
is  considered  in  all  its  bearings,  what  conclusion  can  we 
arrive  at,  except  that  the  Gog  and  Magog  of  Ezekiel  arc 
the  Gog  and  Magog  of  St.  John? 

Having  now  sufficiently  anticipated  any  objections  that 
might  have  been  made,  so  far  as  Gog  and  Magog  are  con- 
cerned, to  my  proposed  interpretation  of  the  present  pro- 
phecy, I  shall  proceed  to  discuss  it  at  large.  And  here 
I  apprehend,  the  parallel  prediction  of  St.  John  will  be 
found  of  essential  use,  inasmuch  as  it  treats  of  the  game 
CAcnts  in  precisely  the  same  order.  The  only  difference 
indeed  JDetween  the  two  prophets  is  this  :  Ezekiel  pecu- 
liarly directs  our  attention  to  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
connects  the  history  of  their  restoratioji  with,  the  successive 
confederacies  of  Antichrist  and  Gog  and  Magog,  the  one 
previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium,  the  other 
at  its  close ;  whereas  St.  John,  writing  the  prophetic  his- 
lor}'  of  the  church  in  general,  docs  not  notice  the  Jews 
otherwise  than  as  involved  in  that  churchy  but  simnlv 


248 

gi\  es  us  an  account  of  tlie  overthrow  first  of  the  Romatt 
Antickristian  confederacy y  and  afterwards  of  the  Magogian 
confederacy. 

I  consider  the  whole  of  Ezekiel  from  the  SA^th  to  the 
39th  chapter  inchisive,  as  one  continued  prophecy :  for, 
if  we  attempt  to  divide  these  evidently  connected  chap- 
ters from  each  other,  where  shall  we  draw  the  line? 
where  shall  we  say  that  the  one  prophecy  ends,  and  that 
the  other  begins  ? 

Ezekiel  first  notices  the  dispersion  of  Israel  through  the 
tyranny  of  their  shepherds  or  rulers,  who,  after  grinding 
their  faces  and  treating  them  in  all  respects  as  a  conquered 
and  debased  people,  instead  of  ruling  them  with  gentle- 
ness and  consulting  their  political  happiness,  at  length  be- 
came instruments  in  the  hand  of  God  of  dispersing  them 
through  all  countries.  From  these  shepherds,  or  (in  li- 
teral exactness  of  speech)  from  their  successors  and  re- 
presentatives the  powers  of  the  Roman  empire  in  its  last 
or  broken  form,  God,  at  the  time  of  the  end,  will  require 
his  flock.  He  will  set  his  face  against  these  tyrannical 
shepherds,  who  have  so  long  persecuted  his  scattered 
people,  and  will  cause  them  to  cease  from  feeding  the 
flock.  He  will  not  suffer  them  to  feed  themselves  any 
more,  or  to  harrass,  like  their  Roman  predecessors,  the 
wretched  Jeivs  M'ith  endless  extortion  and  oppression : 
but  he  ^\•ill  deliver  his  flock  from  their  mouth  that  they 
may  be  no  more  meat  for  them.  As  soon  as  the  ap- 
pointed period  shall  arrive,  he  will  search  his  sheep,  and 
bring  them  back  into  their  own  land  from  all  the  coun- 
tries whither  they  have  been  dispersed.  He  will  feed 
them  in  a  good  pasture  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,  by 
the  rivers,  and  in  all  the  inhabited  places :  and  will  set 
up  one  shepherd  over  them,  the  mystical  David,  even 
Christ  the  Lord. 

At  this  era  howc\'cr  of  their  first  restoration,  or  the 
restoration  of  Judah,  the  prophet  notices  a  remarkable 
distinction  in  the  flock,  which  will  serve  to  explain  an 
apparent  contradictoriness  of  some  prophecies  to  others- 
We  are  generally  led  to  conclude,  that  the  Jews  will  be 
eouA'crted  previous  to  their  restoration,  but  Zechariah  un- 


249 

doubtedly  speaks  of  their  being  converted  after  it*; 
How  then  are  we  to  reconcile  this  discrepancy  ?  Ezekiel 
teaches  us,  that  at  the  time  of  the  restoration  God  will 
judge  between  cattle  and  cattle,  between  the  rams  and 
the  he-goats.  He  will  make  a  marked  distinction  be- 
tween the  fat  cattle  f,  and  between  the  lean  cattle  ;  be- 
tween those  that  trample  down  the  pastures  and  foul  the 
waters,  and  between  those  who  are  constrained  to  eat 
what  is  trodden  down  and  to  drink  what  is  fouled  ;  be- 
tween those  that  push  with  the  shoulder  and  thrust  with 
the  horn,  and  between  the  weak  who  are  scattered  abroad 
by  this  imnatural  cruelty  of  their  fellows.  Yet  both 
these  different  descriptions  of  cattle  are  equally  consider- 
ed as  the  fock  ;  and  are  placed  in  contradistinction  to  the 
beasts  of  the  earthy  or  the  tyrannical  Roman  powers  under 
the  influence  of  Antichrist  and  the  false  prophet.  By  the 
goats  therefore  we  must  obviously  understand  certaiji  un- 
converted Jervs  ;  and  by  the  ranis^  such  as  are  conve7'ted. 
Now  it  manifestly  appears  from  the  tenor  of  the  prophe- 
cy, that  both  the  rams  and  the  goafs  will  equally  return  to 
Palestine  ;  and  that,  when  they  have  thus  returned,  there 
will  be  a  bitter  dissention  between  them,  the  goats  la- 
bouring by  all  possible  means  to  injure  and  expel  the 
rams.  It  further  appears  from  other  prophecies,  that  the 
rams  or  converted  Jews  will  be  restored  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  then  prevailing  protestant  European  mar- 
itin'M  power  ;  and  that  Antichrist  and  his  host  will  at  that 
period  invade  Palestine,  and  occupy  Jerusalem.  Thus 
we  learn,  from  comparing  these  several  prophecies  with 
each  other,  xh^tfour  different  descriptions  of  persons  will 
then  be  collected  together  in  Palestine  :  the  great  mari- 
time power  ;  the  converted  Jews  ;  the  Antichristian  con- 
federacy ■>  and  the  unconverted  Jews.    The  converted  Jews 

*  See  Zechar.  xii.  9—14. 

j-  Abp.  Newcome  translates  Chap,  xxxiv.  ver.  16.  /  ixsill  keep  the  fat  and 
the  strong,  instead  oi'Itoill  destroy  the  fat  ar.d  the  strong  ;  substitutipg"  noCN  for 
the  common  reading  ■i>C!j'f<  This  alteration  appears  to  me  verv  injudicious, 
for  the  prophet  is  plainly  distinguishing  between  th.e  fat  and  the  strong  and 
the  lean  and  the  feeble.  Accordingly  the  distinction  in  question  is  afterwards 
pointed  out  again,  and  the  reasons  for  making  it  are  stated  at  large.  See  ver, 
20.  and  ver.  17--23.  But  liis  grace's  alteration  entirely  destroys  the  distinc- 
tion ;  and.  as  it  seems  to  me,  materially  injures,  instead  of  improving,  the 
s*nse  of  the  passage. 

32 


250 

we  know  will  be  restored  by  the  agency  of  the  marit'une 
power:  and  how  are  we  to  account  for  the  appearance  of 
the  unconverted  Jexvs^  at  the  same  time,  in  the  same  coun- 
try, and  in  direct  opposition  to  their  converted  brethren^ 
except  by  supposing  that  they  are  in  league  with  ^w?z'- 
christ^  and  have  been  brought  back  into  their  own  land 
for  political  purposes  by  his  instrumentality?  In  the  dread- 
ful conflict  many  of  the  goats  will  perish  ;  for  God  hath 
declared,  that  he  will  destroy  the  fat  and  the  strong : 
many  also  of  the  rams  will  be  slain;  for  God  hath  taught 
us,  that,  although  he  will  surely  chasten  his  people  in 
exact  measure,  yet  he  will  not  make  a  full  end  of  them, 
as  he  will  of  the  nations  their  enemies.  But  at  length, 
w^hen  the  appointed  time  shall  come,  such  goats  as  sur- 
vive the  slaughter  of  their  fellows  will  perceive  their  er- 
ror, and  repent  them  of  their  sins.  They  will  look  upon 
him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  mourn  for  him  as  one 
that  mourneth  for  his  only  son  *.  They  will  acknow- 
ledge their  fault  to  their  converted  brethren^  and  will  be 
reconciled  to  them.  And  they  will  jointly  form  only  one 
flock,  under  one  shepherd,  David  their  king. 

Thus,  so  far  as  matters  of  this  kind  are  capable  of 
proof,  the  opinion  of  Bp.  Horsley,  or  at  least  something 
very  like  his  opinion,  seems  to  be  proved  f.  "  I  have  an 
unfashionable  partiality,"  says  he  in  his  letter  to  Mr. 
King,  "  for  the  opinions  of  antiquity.  I  think  there  is 
gi'ound  in  the  prophecies  for  the  notion  of  the  early 
fathers,  that  Palestine  is  the  stage,  on  which  Antichrist, 
in  the  height  of  his  impiety,  will  perish.  I  am  much 
inclined  too  to  assent  to  another  opinion  of  the  fathers ; 
that  a  small  band  of  the  Jexvs  will  join  Antichrist,  and  be 
active  histriiments  of  his  persecutions :{:.  And  I  agree  with 

*  Zechar.  sii   10. 

I  Vide  supra  C.inimcnt.  on  Propli.  VII. 

i-  Tl)e  reader  will  find  tlie  viirious  sentiments  of  the  fathers,  relative  to 
Antichrist,  collected  tog'ctlier  by  Calmrt  in  his  Dictionarv.  Among'  other 
matters  he  mentions  the  supposition,  "  that  the  ^eivs  will  be  the  first,  who  will 
declare  for  him,  acknowledii^e  his  dominion,  and  enjoy  the  principal  employ- 
ments in  his  g'overnment.  He  will  win  upon  them  by  his  delusions,  his  ca- 
resses,  and  false  miracles,  and  by  all  tlie  appearances  of  goodness,  piety,  and 
clemency;  so  that  tliis  unhappy  people  will  take  him  for  tlie  Messiah,  and 
will  flatter  themselves  with  the  expectation  of  seeing  the  kingdom  of  Isra^ 
restored,  by  his  means,  to  its  former  splendor." 


251 

you,  that  it  is  not  unlikely,  that  this  small  part  of  the 
Jews  will  be  settled  in  Jerusalem,  under  the  protection 
oi  Antichrist,  But  it  is  not  to  the  settlement  of  this  apos- 
tate band,  that  the  prophecy  of  the  I8th  chapter  of  Isaiah 
relates. — The  people,  brought  as  a  present  to  Jehovah  to 
mount  Zion,  will  be  brought  thither  in  a  converted  state. 
The  great  body  of  the  Jeivish  people  will  be  converted 
previous  to  their  restoration ;  and,  being  converted,  will 
be  assisted,  by  Christian  nations  of  the  uncircumcision, 
in  settling  themselves  in  their  ancient  seats.  I  agree  with 
you,  that  some  passages,  in  Zechariah  in  particular,  make 
strongly  for  this  notion  of  a  previous  settlement  of  worse 
than  unconverted  Jexvs.  But  I  am  not  without  hope,  from 
the  same  passages,  that  the  great  body  of  the  converted 
Jews  returning  will  find  those  first  settlers,  broken  off  from 
the  Antichristian  faction,  in  a  state  of  deep  contrition,  and 
ready  to  receive  their  brethren  with  open  arms.  So  the 
whole  race  shall  be  offered  to  Jehovah  at  mount  Zion,  and 
not  one  of  Israel  shall  be  lost.  And  so  far,  but  no  farther, 
I  can  admit  an  inchoate  restoration  of  the  Jews,  antecedent 
to  their  conversion ;  and  a  settlement  of  a  small  body  of 
them,  in  the  Holy  Land,  by  the  Antichristian  powers ^ 

In  some  points  of  less  moment  I  cannot  quite  agree 
with  his  Lordship,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  his  opinion 
itself  is  perfectly  well-founded.  He  seems  to  consider 
the  destruction  of  Antichrist  as  h€\\\^  past,  and  the  uncon- 
verted Jews  as  being  penitent,  at  the  time  when  their  con- 
verted brethren  arrive  under  the  protection  of  the  mari- 
time power.  Whereas  Ezekiel  leads  us  to  conclude, 
that  the  goats  will  war  upon  the  rams  ;  and,  not  content 
with  acquiring  a  settlement  themselves,  will  do  all  in  their 
power  to  prevent  their  return.  He  likewise  inclines  to 
believe,  that  only  a  small  body  of  the  Jews  will  be  re  - 
stored  in  their  unbelieving  state  by  Antichist ;  and  that 

In  ray  Dissertation  on  the  \2&0  years,  I  have  conjectured  that  tlie  primary 
revelation  of  Antichrist  took  place  in  the  year  1789,  when  the  French  revolu- 
tion commenced.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  Peter  Dailly  was  of  opi- 
nion, that,  according-  to  his  observations.  Antichrist  must  appear  in  this  very 
year  1789  ;  but  1  know  not  on  what  his  observations  were  grounded  (Cal- 
met's  Diet.  Vox  Antichrist).  It  is  equally  remarkable,  that  the  present  head 
of  ^Ae  Antichristian  faction  has  recently  been  hailed  by  the  ye-.u.?  of  Frankfort 
as  their  long-expected  Messiah. 


253 

bj^far  the  greatest  part  of  them  will  be  brought  back  by 
the  maritime  power  in  a  believing  state.  But  when  we 
consider  the  almost  exclusive  influence  which  Antichris* 
tian  France  alreadi/ extris  over  the  papal  Roman  empire ; 
and  when  we  further  consider,  that  at  the  close  of  the 
1260  7jears  it  will  have  succeeded  in  completely  organ- 
izing a  vast  confederacy  of  the  whole  of  that  empire*: 
we  can  scarcely  suppose,  that  its  power  will  be  so  limited 
as  to  extend  only  to  a  small  body  of  the  Jews.  After  the 
formation  of  this  tremendous  confederacy^  it  is  not  easy  to 
conceive  how  the  protestant  maritime  power  will  be  able 
to  take  under  its  protection  any  Jeivs  excepting  such  as 
are  out  of  the  reach  of  the  confedei'acy ;  those,  for  in- 
stance, who  will  then  be  scattered  throughout  Britain, 
Sweden,  the  maritime  parts  of  Russia,  America,  Africa, 
and  the  coasts  of  Asia.  Those  therefore,  who  are  within 
the  reach  of  the  confederacy,  that  is  to  say,  those  who  are 
scattered  through  the  papal  Roman  empire,  can  hardly  be 
thought  to  constitute  only  a  small  body ;  unless  some 
very  remarkable  emigration  of  the  Jews  from  popish  into 
protestant  countries  should  previously  take  place.  This 
opinion  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  what  Zechariah  says 
on  the  subject.  He  represents  the  Jews,  who  will  be 
converted  after  their  return,  as  constituting  a  very  large 
hody  of  men;  so  large  indeed,  that,  were  we  not  prevented 
by  the^explicit  declarations  of  other  prophecies,  we  should 
be  in  danger  of  fancying,  as  some  actually  have  fancied, 
that  the  general  conversion  of  the  whole  house  of  Judah 
would  succeed  their  restoration.  What  proportion  in- 
deed the  converted  Jeivs  restored  by  the  mariti?ne  power 
will  bear  to  the  unconverted  Jexvs  restored  by  Aritichrist, 
it  is  impossible,  and  therefore  it  would  be  absurd,  to  at- 
tempt to  determine:  but  we  may  venture  to  say,  arguing 
at  least  from  probabilities,  that  a  very  large  body  will  be 
brought  back  by  each;  and  that  the  goats,  or  unconverted 
Jews,  will  attempt,  in  conjunction  with  the  armies  ofAn- 

*  See  Joel  iii.  2.  Zechar.  xn,  2.  Dan.  ii.  34,  35,  44,  45— vii.  11.  Rev.  xvi. 
14. — six-  18,  19,  20.  The  general  expression  of  the  beast,  the  false  prophet^ 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth,  that  is  the  Latin  earth  or  habitable  world  (oijcsi^e^rj) 
as  the  Romans  were  wont  to  term  their  extensive  dominions,  certainly  teaches 
tis,  that  the  confederacy  will  comprehend  the  'xhoie  empire  of  the  revived  beas* 
or  the  whole  papal  Maman  empire. 


255 

tichrist,  to  prevent  the  return  of  the  ramsy  or  the  uncon- 
verted Jexvs. 

The  prophet  havmg  foretold  the  restoration  of  Jiidah 
partly  in  a  converted  and  partly  in  an  uiiconverttd  state, 
is  now  directed  to  set  his  face  against  Edom  and  mount 
Seir,  as  he  had  been  commanded  in  the  beginning  of  his 
prediction  to  set  his  face  against  the  tyrannical  shepherds 
who  had  scattered  and  oppressed  God's  flock.  We  hiive 
already  seen,  that  Edom  is  used  as  a  type  of  the  Roman 
empire  ;  and,  from  his  immediate  connection  in  the  pre- 
sent instance  with  the  restoration  ofJudah^  we  are  obliged 
to  conclude  that  he  typifies  that  empire  here  also.  Edom 
then  is  the  same  as  the  shepherds ;  who  scattered  the  Jexvs 
while  Pagan,  and  who  will  be  destroyed  in  the  act  of 
fighting  against  them  while  papal.  Against  this  Roman 
Edom  God  will  stretch  out  his  hand,  and  will  make  him 
a  desolation  and  a  desolation ;  because  he  has  had  a  per- 
petual hatred  against  the  children  of  Israel^  and  has  shed 
their  blood  by  the  force  of  the  sword,  in  the  time  of  their 
iniquity  in  the  end,  or  during  the  period  of  their  last  (that 
is,  their  present)  apostasy  and  dispersion.  The  Jexvs  in- 
deed were  evidently  objects  of  the  divine  wrath ;  they 
were  scattered  throughout  all  countries;  and  were  a  pro- 
verb and  a  by-word  among  the  nations:  but  that  circum- 
stance afforded  no  warrant  fiDr  the  atrocities  of  popish 
persecutors,  nor  did  the  wickedness  of  Judah  exculpate 
them  from  blood-guiltiness.  Edom  therefore  is  prepared 
for  blood.  Since,  in  every  period  of  his  history  from  his 
first  rise  to  the  formation  of  his  last  Antichristian  confe- 
deracy^ he  hath  not  hated  blood,  even  blood  shall  pursue 
him*.     In  the  pride  of  his  political  speculations  he  had 

*  Behold  Edom  in  liis  pagan  days  of  conquest  and  ambitious  affectation  of 
universal  empire.  '•  After  this  I  saw  in  the  night-visions,  and  behold,  a  fourth 
beast,  dreadful  and  terrible  and  strong  exceedingly  ;  and  it  liad  great  iron 
teeth  :  it  devoured,  and  brake  in  jiieces,  and  stamped  the  residue  with  the 
feet  of  it" — A^iew  liim  next  while  under  tiie  influence  of  his  little  apostate 
horn.  "  It  was  g'iven  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the  saints,  and  to  overcome 
them"— Consider  the  adulttrous  church,  for  whose  polluted  communion  he  ex- 
changed his  ancient  pagan  abominations,  and  to  wliom  he  hath  ever  lent  him- 
self an  indefatigable  tool  of  persecution  •'!  saw  tlie  woman  drunken  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus""-See  liim 
lastly,  under  the  united  influence  of  Antichrist  and  the  false  prophet,  intro- 
ducing, as  yet  unsated  with  slaughter,  new  scenes  of  havock,  blood,  and  de- 
solation,   ills,  haxder,  the  i?ijidel  iijig,  «' shall  go  forth  with  great  fuiy  to  d.e- 


'254, 

said.  The  land  of  these  two  nations  Israel  and  Judah  shall 
be  mine  :  I  will  possess  it :  I  will  make  it  a  province  of 
my  empire^  conveniently  subservient  from  its  central  situ- 
ation to  my  future  schemes  of  yet  more  extensive  aggran- 
disement. Thus  he  :  whereas  the  Lord  was  there.  The 
Lord,  who  hath  heard  all  his  contemptuous  speeches 
ag.dnst  Israel,  and  all  his  words  which  he  hath  multi- 
plied even  against  the  Lord,  M-ill  suddenly  go  forth  in 
his  great  wrath  to  judge  him.  As  he  rejoiced  at  the 
desolation  o^  Jacob,  so  shall  he  become  a  desolation  of 
desolations  while  the  whole  earth  rejoiceth. 

The  fall  of  Edoni  shall  be  the  rise  of  the  house  of  Israel. 
They,  who  had  long  been  scattered  through  all  the  lands, 
monuments  of  God's  vengeance ;  they,  who  had  profaned 
his  holy  name  by  calling  themselves  his  people,  when  they 
were  manifestly  rejected  of  him :  shall  now  be  restored, 
though  not  for  their  own  sakes ;  and  shall  be  admitted 
into  a  new  and  spiritual  covenant  with  the  Lord.  Judah 
and  Israel  shall  both  be  brought  back  ;  but  the  house  of 
Judah  first.  Although  they  have  so  long  been  politically 
and  nationally  dead,  that  they  may  be  compai^ed,  not 
merely  to  putrid  corpses,  but  to  dry  bones:  yet  they  shall 
assuredly  rise  again,  bone  to  his  bone;  shall  resume  their 
rank  among  the  nations ;  and  shall  become,  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  words,  God's  own  people,  a  peculiar  people 
zealous  of  good  works,  a  people  constantly  living  under 
the  gi"acious  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Judah  and 
Israel  however  shall  be  no  longer,  as  formerly,  tivo  king- 
doms. As  the  two  sticks  became  o?ie  in  the  hand  of  Eze- 
kiel ;  so  shall  the  two  kindred  nations  become  one  in  the 
hand  of  the  Lord.  And,  as  the  literal  David  reigned  first 
over  Judah  separately,  and  afterwards  over  Judah  and  Is- 
rael iomtly  ^ ;  so  shall  the  mystical  David  ^wiiX.  reign  over 

stroy,  and  with  a  bitter  religious  anathema  to  devote  many  to  utter  destruc- 
tion. He  shall  plant  the  curtains  of  his  pavilion  between  the  seas  in  the  g'lo- 
rious  holy  mountdn  :  and  the  city  shall  be  taken,  and  the  houses  rifled,  and 
the  women  ravished.  And  I  saw  the  beast,"  and  the  false  prophet,  "  and 
the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  their  armies,  gathered  together  to  make  war 
against  him  that  sat  on  tlie  horse,  and  against  his  army." 

After  such  multiplied  deeds  of  violence  and  bloodslied,  can  we  wonder, 
that  vengeance,  however  slow-footed,  should  at  length  overtake  him  ?  "  He, 
that  killeth  with  the  sword,  must  be  killed  with  th^  sword,"  £dom  hath 
not  hated  blood,  therefore  blood  shall  pursue  him, 

*  2  Sam.  V.  5. 


255 

the  House  qfJudali  for  a  short  time  separately,  and  after- 
wards over  Judali  and  Israel  now  for  ever  united.  When 
Judah  is  restored  and  converted,  and  when  the  confede- 
racy of  Antichrist  is  broken  ;  "  then  shall  come  all  the 
tribes  of  Israel  unto  David,  and  shall  speak,  saying; 
Thou  wast  he  that  leddest  out  and  broughtest  in  Israel ; 
thou  shalt  henceforth  therefore  feed  the  Lord's  people; 
thou  shalt  be  a  captain  over  Israel ;  thou  art  the  anointed 
king,  the  Messiah  of  God*."  With  this  united  kingdom 
the  Lord  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  of  peace.  He 
will  establish  them,  and  set  his  sanctuary  in  the  midst  of 
them  for  evermore.  He  will  be  their  God,  and  thev  shall 
be  his  people. 

We  have  seen  the  restoration  of  Judah  partly  in  a  con- 
verted and  partly  in  an  unconverted  state,  the  destruction 
of  the  mystic  Edom  or  the  Roman  Antichristiafi  faction, 
the  political  resurrection  of  Judah  and  Israel  after  their 
long  national  extinction,  their  coalition  into  one  people  un- 
der one  king  the  Messiah,  and  their  unexampled  prospe- 
rity and  happiness  in  the  land  of  their  fathers  while  living 
in  covenant  with  God  and  beholding  his  sanctuary  in  the 
midst  of  them :  we  have  seen,  in  short,  the  cotnmejice- 
ment  of  that  season  of  blessedness,  which  is  usually  deno- 
minated the  Millennium,  The  prophet  now  directs  our 
attention  to  a  new  enemy  of  the  Church,  whom  he  styles 
Gog  and  Magog,  That  this  nexv  enemy  cannot  be  the 
same  as  Edom  or  the  Roman  confederacy,  is  plain,  both 
from  the  time  when  he  makes  his  appearance,  namely  at 
some  indefinite  period  after  the  commencement  of  the 
Millennium  ;  from  the  countries  whence  he  draws  his 
forces,  which  are  xvithout  the  limits  of  the  papal  Roman 
empire ;  and  from  various  circumstances  in  his  prophetic 
history,  which  do  not  accord  vv^ith  the  prophetic  history 
of  the  Roman  Antichristian  confederacy  as  elsewhere  de- 
tailed: to  all  which  may  be  added  the  improbability, 
that  Ezekiel,  after  he  has  described  the  downfal  of  that 
confederacy  under  the  mystic  name  of  Edom  exactly  at 
the  era  where  other  predictions  had  taught  us  to  look 
for  it,  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  Judah ;  should  no\; 
afresh  describe  its  do\vnfal  under  a  different  mystical 

"=  ?.  Sam.  r,  3,  2,  ". 


256 

flame  not  used  b}^  any  one  of  the  ancient  prophets,  and 
that  too  at  an  era  vvhere  no  othei*  predictions  had  taught 
us  to  look  lor  it,  an  era  posterior  to  the  restoration  of  the 
house  of  Israel  imd.  the  coinmencement  of  the  Mille7mium, 
Kzekiel  only  teaches  us,  that  the  expedition  of  Go^  and 
Magog  should  be  undertaken,  when  the  united  Jews  and 
Israelites  were  dwelling  in  careless  security  luider  David 
their  king  in  their  own  !and,  when  they  had  spread  them- 
selves through  all  the  unwalled  villages,  when  they  had 
become  rich  in  cattle  and  goods,  and  when  living  under 
the  immediate  protection  of  heaven  they  little  expected 
any  assault  from  man ;  in  other  words,  that  it  should  be 
undertaken  at  some  indefinite  period  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennium  :  but  St.  John  is  more  explicit ; 
he  fixes  this  period  to  a  thousand  years ^  either  natural  or 
prophetic,  alter  the  season  of  great  blessedness  has  com- 
menced. The  confederacy  however  of  Gog  and  Magog 
will  be  even  less  successful  than  that  of  Antichrist.  While 
these  apostates  surround  the  beloved  city,  fire  from  hea- 
ven will  descend  upon  them ;  God  will  rain  upon  them 
an  overflo^^ing  rain,  a  rain  of  hail- stones,  fire  and  brim- 
stone ;  and,  agitated  with  the  madness  of  terror,  those, 
who  escape  the  devastating  tempest,  will  turn  every  man 
his  sword  against  his  brother.  Yet  even  of  these  incor- 
rigible ofienders  will  God  mercifully  spare  the  sixth 
part^,  as  he  had  already  spared  the  third  part  oithe  Anti- 
christian  confederacy.  Thus  magnifying  his  great  name, 
will  the  Lord  shew  to  all  nations,  that,  as  he  scattered  the 
children  of  Israel  for  their  sins,  so,  after  he  has  restored 
them  at  once  to  their  own  land  and  to  the  privileges  of 
his  covenant,  he  will  cause  them  to  dwell  in  confident 
security,  and  will  suffer  none  to  make  them  afraid. 

Thus,  it  appears,   that  Ezekiel  arranges  the  events 
W'hich  are  to  take  place  during  the  latter  days.^,  in  the 

*  I  have  already  stated  the  uncertain  meaning  of  the  word  Ntt'tf  ;  and  liave 
observed,  that,  liovvever  it  be  translated,  the  present  argument  will  not  be  at 
all  affected.  Whether  Gog  and  Magog  be  totally  destroyed,  or  whether  a 
sixth  part  he  \eh,\hcTe  \v\\\  he  no  correspondence  between  their  fate  and 
Xh'aX  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy;  of  wliich  Isaiah  teaches  us  that  a  consi- 
derable number  shall  be  spared,  while  Zechariah  more  definitely  limits  that 
number  to  a  third  part  of  tiie  wliole.     See  Isaiah  Ixvi.  19.  and  Zechar.  xiii.  8. 

f  The  latter  davs,  or  the  end  of  the  days,  denotes  in  the  Old  Testament  that 
portion  of  time,  lahich  begins  at  the  tennir.aticTi  of  th^  great  Apostasy  tf  126(* 


257 

following*  order :  1.  The  restoration  of  yi/r/ir/z  partly  in 
a  converted  and  partly  in  an  unconverted  state,  and  the 
contemporary  war  between  the  two  parties  supported  by 
their  several  allies  the  maritime  nation  and  Antichrist ; 
2.  The  destruction  of  Antichrist  and  his  Roman  colleagues 
luider  the  general  mystic  name  of  Edom,  and  the  Lord's 
vindication  of  himself  for  restoring  so  stubborn  a  race  as 
that  of  the  Jews  ;  3.  The  national  resurrection  of  Jndah 
and  Israel  to  ^vhich  the  overgrown  power  of  Antichrist 
was  the  only  impediment,  and  their  everlasting  union 
under  the  mystic  David  their  prince;  4.  The  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennian  season  of  blessedness  and  tran- 
quillity ;   5.   The  destruction  of  Gog  and  Magog, 

Precisely  the  same  order  is  observed  by  St.  John,  with 
this  only  difference,  that,  treating  of  the  Church  at  large, 
he  does  not  particularly  notice  the  restoration  of  Israel^ 
but  contents  himself  with  only  obscurely  intimating  that 
the  exhaustion  of  the  symbolical  Euphrates,  or  the  over- 
throw  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  should  prepare  a  way  for 
the  kings  from  the  east :  1.  The  gathering  together  of 
the  Antichristian  confederacy  to  Megiddo  in  the  land  of 
Palestine,  the  country  which  extends  1600  furlongs,  the 
region  between  the  two  seas ;  2.  Its  overthroAV  in  that 
country  by  the  miraculous  intervention  of  the  personal 
Word  of  God;  3.  The  first  resurrection,  either  literal 
or  symbolical  *,  of  the  saints,  and  their  reign  with  Christ 
during  the  period  of  the  Millennium;  4.  The  expedition 
and  destruction  of  Gog  and  Magog. 

It  is  impossible  to  avoid  being  struck  with  the  exact 
correspondence  between  Ezekiel  and  St.  John,  in  tlie 
order  of  their  respective  details.  If  then  the  arguments, 
\\hich  I  have  already  adduced,  be  ^vell-founded ;  and  if 
this  correspondence  be  allowed  to  exist :  we  must  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that  the  Gog  and  jMagog  of  Ezekiel 
are  the  same  as  the  Gog  and  Magog  of  St.  John  ;  ancf 
consequently  that  their  expedition  will  take  place,  not 
before  the  coinmen cement,  but  at  the  end  of  the  Millen- 
nium. 

years,  and  ivhich  expires  at  the  end  of  the  Millennium  and  at  the  consimimatian 
of  all  things.  See  the  meaning  of  tli  is  plirtise  discussed  in  iDy  Dissert,  on  tjir 
1260 years,  Ch:\\>.'n\.  ■  . 

*  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  rears,  Vol.  I.  p.  56.  Note  ■■  (2d  TAUt.}. 


■25B 


PROPHECY    XXVI. 


Descriptive  character  of  the  potvers  that  will  compose  the  Anti- 
christian  confederacy— The  progress  of  Antichrist  to  Palestine 
—His  overthrow  there. — The  restoration  of  Judah  during  a  time 
of  great  trouble  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years. 

Dan.  ii.  40.  The  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  strong  as 
iron :  forasmuch  as  iron  breaketh  in  pieces  and  subdu- 
cth  all  things  :  and,  as  iron  that  breaketh  all  these,  shall 
it  break  in  pieces  and  bruise.  41.  And,' whereas  thou 
sawest  the  feet  and  toes,  part  of  potter's  clay  and  part  of 
iron,  the  kingdom  shall  be  divided :  but  there  shall  be 
in  it  of  the  strength  of  the  iron,  forasmuch  as  thou  saw- 
est  the  iron  mixed  with  the  miry  clay.  42.  And,  as  the 
toes  of  the  feet  were  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay,  so 
the  kingdom  shall  be  partly  strong  and  partly  broken. 
43.  And,  whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed  with  miry 
clay,  they  shall  mingle  themselves  with  the  seed  of  men: 
but  they  shall  not  cleave  one  to  another,  even  as  iron  is 
not  mixed  with  clay,  44,  And  in  the  da3's  of  these  kings 
shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall 
never  be  destroyed :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to 
other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all 
these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever :  45.  Foras- 
much as  thou  sawest— 34, — till  that  a  stone  was  cut  out 
without  hands,  which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet 
that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them  to  pieces. 
35.  Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver, 
and  the  gold,  broken  to  pieces  together,  and  became  like 
the  chaiF  of  the  summer  threshing  floors ;  and  the  Avind 
cai'ried  them  a^vay,  that  no  place  \i-as  found  for  them : 
and  the  stone,  that  smote  the  image,  became  a  great 
mountain,  and  filled  the  whole  earth. 

vii.  7.  After  this  I  saw  in  the  night- visions,  and,  be- 
liold,  a  fourth  beast,  dreadful  and  terrible,  and  strong 
exceedingly  ;  and  it  had  great  iron  teeth  :  it  devoured 
and  brake  in  pieces,  and  stamped  the  residue  with  the 
feet  of  it :  and  it  was  diverse  from  all  the  beasts  that  went 
before  it;  and  it  had  ten  horns.  8.  I  considered  the  horns, 


259 

and  behold,  there  came  up  among  them  another  little 
liorn,  before  whom  there  were  three  of  the  first  horns 
plucked  up  by  the  roots  :  and  behold,  in  this  horn  there 
were  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  and  a  mouth  speaking- 
great  things.  9.  I  beheld,  till  the  thrones  were  set,  and 
the  ancient  of  days  did  sit: — 10. — the  judgment  was  set, 
and  the  books  were  opened.  11.  I  beheld  then,  because 
of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the  horn  spake  :  I 
beheld  even  till  the  beast  w^as  slain,  and  his  body  des- 
troyed, and  given  to  the  burning  flame — 23.  The  fourth 
beast  shall  be  the  fourth  kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall 
be  diverse  from  all  kingdoms,  and  shiill  devour  the  whole 
earth,  and  shall  tread  it  down,  and  brake  it  in  pieces. 
24.  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  kingdom  are  ten  kings 
that  shall  arise :  and  another  shall  rise  behind  them,  and  he 
shall  be  diverse  froiji  the  first,  and  he  shall  subdue  three 
kings.  25.  And  he  shall  speak  great  words  by  the  side 
of  the  Most  High,  and  shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High,  and  think  to  change  times  and  laws :  and  they  shall 
be  given  into  his  hand  until  a  time,  and  times,  and  the 
dividing  of  a  time.  26.  But  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and 
they  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume,  and  to  des- 
troy it  unto  the  end.  27.  And  the  kingdom,  and  dominion, 
and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven, 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High; 
whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  domi- 
nions shall  serve  and  obey  him. 

Rev.  xiii.  1.  And  I  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea, 
and  saw  a  beast  rise  up  out  of  the  sea,  having  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns,  ^nd  upon  his  heads  the  name  of  blasphe- 
my— 3.  And  I  saw  one  of  his  heads  as  it  were  wounded 
to  death ;  and  his  deadly  wound  was  healed ;  and  all 
the  world  wondered  after  the  beast — 5.  And  there  was 
given  unto  him  a  mouth  speaking  great  things  and  blas- 
phemies ;  and  power  was  given  unto  him  to  practise  for- 
ty and  two  months.  6.  And  he  opened  his  mouth  in 
blasphemy  against  God,  to  blaspheme  his  name,  and  his 
tabernacle,  and  them  that  dwell  in  heaven.  7.  And  it  was 
given  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the  saints,  and  to  over- 
come them  :  and  power  was  given  him  over  all  kindreds, 
;md  tongues,  and  nations — 10.  He,  that  leadeth  into  cap- 


260 

tivity,  sIkiII  go  into  captivity :  he,  that  killeth  with  the 
sword,  must  be  killed  with  the  sword. 

11.  And  I  beheld  another  beast  coming  up  out  of  the 
earth ;  and  he  had  t^vo  horns  like  a  lamb,  and  he  spake 
as  a  dragon.  12.  And  he  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the 
first  beast  before  him,  and  causeth  the  earth  and  them 
Avhich  dwell  therein  to  worship  the  first  beast,  whose 
deadly  Avound  was  healed.  13.  And  he  doeth  great  won- 
ders,  that  he  may  make  fire  come  down  from  hca\"en  on 
the  earth  in  the  sight  of  men.  14.  And  he  deceiveth  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth  by  those  miracles  Avhich  he  had 
power  to  do  in  the  sight  of  the  beast,  saying  tothemtnat 
dwell  on  the  earth,  that  they  should  make  an  image  for 
the  beast,  which  had  the  Avound  by  a  sword,  and  did  live. 
15.  And  he  had  power  to  give  life  unto  the  beast's 
image,  that  the  beast's  image  should  both  speak,  and 
cause  that  as  many  as  would  not  worship  the  beast's 
image  should  be  killed.  16.  And  he  caused  all,  both 
small  and  great,  rich  and  poor,  free  and  bond,  to  receive 
a  mark  in  their  right  hand,  or  in  their  foreheads  :  17.  And 
that  no  man  might  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that  had  the  mark, 
or  the  name  of  the  beast,  or  the  number  of  his  name. 
18.  Here  is  M'isdom.  Let  him  tliat  hath  understanding 
count  the  number  of  the  beast.  For  it  is  the  number  of 
a  man.     And  his  number  is  666. 

xvii.  1.  And  there  came  one  of  the  seven  angels  which 
had  the  seven  vials,  and  talked  with  me,  saying  unto  me, 
Come  hither;  I  will  shew  unto  thee  the  judgment  of  the 
great  whore,  that  sittcth  upon  many  Avaters  :  2.  With 
whom  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  committed  fornication, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  have  been  made  drunk 
with  the  w'me  of  her  fornications.  3.  So  he  carried  me 
awa}'  in  the  spirit  into  the  ^vilderness :  and  I  saw  a  A\^oman 
sit  upon  a  scarlet- coloured  beast  full  of  names  of  blasphe- 
my, having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  4.  And  the 
woman  was  arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet  colour,  and 
decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones  and  pearls,  having 
a  golden  cup  in  her  hand,  full  of  abominations  and  filthi- 
ness  of  her  fornication:  5.  And  upon  her  forehead  was  a 
name  written.  Mystery,  Babvlcn  the  great,  the  mother  of 
harlots  and  abominations  of  the  earth.  6.  And  I  sav/  the 


261 

woman  drunken  wdtli  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  witli 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus  :  and,  when  I  saw  her, 
I  wondered  with  great  admiration.  7.  And  the  angel 
said  unto  me,  Wherefore  didst  thou  marvel  ?  I  will  tell 
thee  the  mystery  of  the  M-oman,  and  of  the  beast  that  car- 
rieth  her,  \\hich  hath  the  seven  heads  and  ten  horns. 
8.  The  beast,  that  thou  sawest,  was,  and  is  not ;  and 
shall  ascend  out  of  the  abyss,  and  go  into  perdition  :  and 
they  that  dwell  on  the  earth  shall  wonder,  whose  names 
were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  when  they  behold  the  beast  that  was,  and  is 
not,  and  yet  is.  9.  And  here  is  the  mind  which  hath 
wisdom.  The  seven  heads  are  seven  mountains,  on 
which  the  woman  sitteth.  10.  And  they  are  seven  kings: 
five  are  fallen,  and  one  is,  and  the  other  is  not  yet  come ; 
and,  when  he  cometh,  he  must  continue  a  short  space. 
11.  And  the  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not,  even  he  is  that 
eighth  king,  and  yet  is  of  the  seven ;  and  he  goeth  into 
perdition.  12.  And  the  ten  horns,  wJiich  thou  sawest, 
are  ten  kings,  which  have  received  no  kingdom  as  yet; 
but  receive  power  as  kings  in  one  season  with  the  beast. 
13.  These  have  one  mind,  and  shall  give  their  power  and 
strength  unto  the  beast.  14.  These  shall  make  war  with 
the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  shall  overcome  them :  for  he 
is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of  kings ;  and  they  that  are 
with  him  are  called,  and  faithful  and  chosen.  15.  And 
he  saith  unto  me,  The  waters  which  thou  sawest,  where 
the  whore  sitteth,  are  peoples  and  multitudes,  and  nations 
and  tongues.  16.  And  the  ten  horns,  which  thou  sa^vest 
upon  the  beast,  these  shall  hate  the  whore,  and  shall  make 
her  desolate  and  naked,  and  shall  eat  her  flesh,  and  shall 
burn  her  with  fire  :  17.  For  God  hath  put  in  their  hearts 
to  fulfil  his  will,  and  to  agree,  and  give  their  kingdom 
unto  the  beast,  until  the  words  of  God  shall  be  fulfilled. 
18.  And  the  woman,  which  thou  sawest,  is  that  great 
city  which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  eartli. 

Dan.  xi.  v36.  And  (after  the  second  persecution  of  the 
men  of  understanding,  or  the  era  of  the  Reformation)  a 
king  shall  do  according  to  his  will ;  and  he  shall  exalt 
himself,  and  magnify  himself  above  every  god;  and  shall 
.speak  mai-vellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods  ;  and 


262 

shall  prosper  till  the  indignation  be  accomplished :  for 
that,  that  is  determined,  shall  be  done.  37.  Neither  shall 
he  regard  the  God  of  his  fathers,  nor  him  who  is  the  de- 
sire of  women,  nor  regard  any  god  :  for  he  shall  magnify 
himself  above  them  all.  38.  Yet,  when  he  is  established 
in  power,  he  shall  honour  tutelary  gods  together  with  a 
god  ;  even,  together  with  a  god  whom  his  fathers  knew 
not,  he  shall  honour  them  with  gold,  and  silver,  and  pre- 
cious stones,  and  pleasant  things:  39.  And  he  shall  practice 
prosperously/.  Unto  the  upholders  of  his  tutelary  gods, 
together  with  the  foreign  god  ^vhom  he  shall  acknow- 
ledge, he  shall  multiply  glory  :  and  he  shall  cause  them 
to  rule  over  many ;  and  he  shall  divide  the  land  among 
them,  selling  it  for  a  price. 

40.  And  at  the  time  of  the  end  a  king  of  the  south 
shall  butt  at  him :  and  a  king  of  the  north  shall  come 
against  him  like  a  whirlwind,  with  chariots,  and  with 
horsemen,  and  with  many  ships.  Yet  he  shall  enter  into 
the  countries,  and  shall  overflow,  and  pass  over.  41.  He 
shall  enter  also  into  the  glorious  land ;  and  many  coun- 
tries shall  be  overthrown  :  but  these  shall  escape  out  of 
his  hand,  even  Edom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of  the 
children  of  Ammon.  42.  He  shall  stretch  forth  his  hand 
also  upon  the  countries  :  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not 
escape  ;  43.  But  he  shall  have  power  over  the  treasures 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  over  all  the  precious  things  of 
Egypt :  and  the  Libyans  and  the  Ethiopians  shall  be  at 
his  steps.  44.  But  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the 
north  shall  trouble  him  :  therefore  he  shall  go  forth  with 
great  fury  to  destroy,  and  to  devote  many  to  utter  des- 
truction under  the  pretext  of  religion.  45.  And  he  shall 
plant  the  curtains  of  his  pavilion  between  the  seas  in 
the  glorious  holy  mountain :  yet  he  shall  come  to  his 
end,  and  none  shall  help  him. 

xii.  1.  And  at  that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the 
great  prince  which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  peo- 
ple :  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble  such  as  never 
was  since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time: 
and  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one 
that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book.  2.  And  man}' 
that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake  ;  some  to 


263 

everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting 
contempt.  3.  And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine,  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament ;  and  they  that  turn  many 
imto  righteousness,  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.  4.  But 
thou,  O  Daniel,  shut  up  the  words,  and  seal  the  book, 
unto  the  time  of  the  end  ;  many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and 
knowledge  shall  be  increased. 

5.  Then  I,  Daniel,  looked,  and  behold  there  stood 
other  two,  the  one  on  this  side  of  the  bank  of  the  river, 
and  the  other  on  that  side  of  the  bank  of  the  river.  6.  And 
it  was  said  to  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was  above 
the  waters  of  the  river.  Until  how  long  shall  be  the  end 
of  the  wonders  ?  7.  And  I  heard  the  man  clothed  in 
linen,  which  w^as  above  the  waters  of  the  river,  when  he 
held  up  his  right  hand  and  his  left  hand  unto  heaven,  and 
sware  by  Him  that  liveth  for  ever,  that  it  shall  be  until  a 
a  time,  and  times,  and  a  half ;  and,  when  he  shall  have 
finished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people,  all  these 
wonders  shall  be  finished  *.  8.  And  I  heard,  but  I  under- 
stood notf.  Then  said  I,  O  my  Lord,  what  is  the  end  of 
these  things?  9.  And  he  said,  Go  thy  way,  Daniel,  for  the 
words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end. 
10.  Many  shall  be  purified,  and  made  white,  and  tried  ; 
but  the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly :  and  none  of  the  wicked 
shall  understand ;  but  the  wise  shall  understand.  1 1 .  And 
from  the  time  of  ^le  taking  away  of  the  daily  sacrifice 
even  by  the  setting  up  of  the  abomination  that  maketh 
desolate,  there  shall  be  computed  2i  thousand  two  hundred 
and  ninety  days.  12.  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth,  and 
Cometh  to  a  thousand  three  hundred  and  five  and  thirty 
days.  13.  But  go  thou  thy  way  until  the  end  :  for  thou 
shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot,  at  the  end  of  the  days. 

*  And,  ivhcn  he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people,  all 
these  wonders  shall  be  finished.^  Mr.  Wintle  ti'anslates  this  passage,  And,  after 
the  accomplisliment  of  the  dispersion  of  the  holy  people,  all  these  things  shall  be 
fulfilled.  For  his  reasons,  which  are  founded  on  a  shg'ht  alteration  of  the 
text,  see  his  note  in  loc.  The  sense  according;  to  either  translation  will  be 
the  same,  though  Mr.  Wintle's,  if  his  alteration  be  allowable,  is  more  clear. 
He  understands  the  passage  in  the  same  manner  that  I  do  ;  namely,  that  the 
jfews  will  begin  to  be  restored  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years.  See  Mr.  Lowth 
in  loc. 

■f  I  heard,  but  I  understood  ■not.']  "  I  did  not  understand  what  time  was  allot- 
ted for  bringingto  pass  this  event,  namely  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


264 

Rev.  xvi.  12.  And  the  sixth  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
upon  the  great  river  Euphrates  ;  and  the  water  thereof 
was  dried  up,  that  a  way  might  be  prepared  for  the  kings 
Avho  are  from  the  rising  of  the  sun.  13.  And  I  saw  three 
unclean  spirits  like  frogs  come  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  false  prophet.  14.  For  they  are  the  spirits 
of  demons  working  signs,  to  go  out  to  the  kings  of  the 
earth  even  of  the  whole  habitable  world  "'%  to  gather  them 
together  to  the  ^var  of  that  great  day  of  God  Almighty. 
15.  Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that  watch- 
eth,  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked,  and 
they  see  his  shame.  And  he  gathered  them  together  f 
into  a  place  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Armageddon 
(or  the  ciu'sing  to  utter  destruction  at  Megiddo.) 

17.  And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  into  the 
air :  and  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of 
heaven,  from  the  throne,  saying,  It  is  done.  18.  And 
there  were  voices,  and  thunders,  and  lightnings :  and 
there  was  a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  men 
were  upon  the  earth,  so  mighty  an  earthquake  and  so 
gi'eat.  19.  And  the  great  city  was  divided  into  three 
parts,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations  fell,  and  great  Baby- 
lon came  in  remembrance  before  God,  to  give  unto 
her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his  -WTath. 
20.  And  every  island  lied  away,  and  tlie  mountains  were 
not  found.  21.  And  there  fell  upon  men  a  great  hail  out 
of  hea^'en,  every  stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent;  and 
men  blasphemed  God  because  of  the  plague  of  the  hail : 
for  the  plague  thereof  was  exceeding  great. 

xviii.  1.  And  after  these  things  I  saw  another  angel 
come  down  from  heaven,  having  great  power  ;  and  the 
earth  was  lischtened  ^vith  his  dorv.     2.  And  he  cried 

*  The  tv/io/e  habitable  ivorld.']  Tluit  is,  the  Rovian  empire,  whicli  was  wont 
to  best} led  oAsj  or  ■ztcctx,  jj  oikh/^cvij.  See  Parkhurst's  Greek  Lex. ox  o<;cy,M.fVi;, 
aiul  Mede's  Daniel's  "Weeks,  ver.  26.  p.  70.5. 

j  He  gathered  them  together.']  Or,  as  tlie  passat^e  mig-lit  perhaps  be  more 
properly  translated,  thev,  that  is  tlie  unclean  sp'ivits,  gathered  them  together. 
According-  to  a  well  known  rule  of  the  Greelvg-rammar,  "tlie  verb  sing-ular 
fwrr/xyey  ag-rees  with  the  neuter  plural  XKxdaprx  T^vivy.x.r:if  whose  office  it 
was  to  collect  the  king's  (ver.  14.)  This  is  observed  by  Daubuz."  Arch- 
deacon "Woodhoiise's  Apocalypse  translated ^  p.  410. 


265       • 

mightily  with  a  strong  voice,  saying,  Babylon  the  gi*eat 
is  fallen,  is  fallen;  and  is  become  the  habitation  of  devils, 
and  the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every  un- 
clean and  hateful  bird.    3.  For  all  nations  have  drunk  of 
the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication,  and  the  kuigs  of 
the  earth  have  committed  fornication  with  her,  and  the 
merchants  of  the  earth  are  waxed  rich  through  the  abun- 
dance  of  her  delicacies.     4.  And  1  heard  another  voice 
from  heaven,  saying,  Come  out  of  her  my  people,  that 
ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of 
her  plagues.     5.  For  her  sins  have  reached  unto  heaven, 
and  God  hath  remembered  her  iniquities.     6.  Reward 
her  even  as  she  rewarded  you,  and  double  unto  her  dou- 
ble according  to  her  works ;  in  the  cup  which  she  hath 
filled  fill  to  her  double.    7.  How  much  she  hath  glorified 
herself,  and  lived  deliciously,  so  much  torment  and  sor- 
row give  her.     For  she  saith  in  her  heart,  I  sit  a  queen, 
and  am  no  widow,  and  shall  see  no  sorrow.     8.  There- 
fore shall  her  plagues  come  in  one  day,  death  and  mourn- 
ing and  famine  :  and  she  shall  be  utterly  burned  with  fire  > 
for  strong  is  the  Lord  God  who  judgeth  her.     9.  And 
the  kings  of  the  earth,  who  have  committed  fornication 
and  lived  deliciously  with  her,  shall  bewail  her  and  lament 
for  her,  when  they  shall  see  the  smoke  of  her  burning; 
10.  Standing  afar  off"  for  the  fear  of  her  torment,  saying, 
Alas,  alas,  that  great  city  Babylon,  that  mighty  city  !  for 
in  one  hour  is  thy  judgment  come.     11.  And  the  mer- 
chants of  the  earth  shall  weep  and  mourn  over  her ;  for 
no  man  buyeth  her  merchandise  any  more.     12.  The 
merchandise  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  and 
pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlet, 
and  all  thyme  wood,  and  all  manner  of  vessels  of  ivory, 
and  all  manner  of  vessels  of  mosi  precious  wood,  and  of 
brass,  and  iron,  and  marble.      13.  And  cinnamon,  and 
odours,  and  ointments,  and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and 
oil,  and  fine  flour,  and  wheat;  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and 
horses,  and  chariots,  and  slaves,  and  souls  of  men — - 
21.  And  a  mighty  angel  took  up  a  stone  like  a  great 
millstone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea,  saying,  Thus  with 
violence  shall  that  great  city  Babylon  be  thro^vn  down, 
'and  shall  be  found  no  more  at  all — 23.  For  thv  mer- 
3.4    ' 


266 

chants  ivere  the  gr^at  men  of  the  earth:  for  by  thy  sorce- 
ries were  all  nations  deceived.  24.  And  in  licr  was  found 
the  blood  of  prophets  and  of  saints,  and  of  all  that  were 
slain  upon  the  earth, 

xiv.  17.  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the  temple 
which  is  in  heaven,  he  also  having  a  sharp  sickle.  18.  And 
another  angel  came  out  from  the  altai',  which  had  power 
over  fire ;  and  cried  with  a  loud  cry  to  him  that  had  the 
sharp  sickle,  saying,  Tlirust  in  thy  sharp  sickle,  and 
gather  the  clusters  of  the  vine  of  the  earth ;  for  her  grapes 
are  fully  ripe.  19.  And  the  angel  thrust  in  his  sickle  into 
the  earth,  and  gathered  the  vine  of  the  earth,  and  cast  it 
into  the  great  wine-press  of  the  wrath  of  God.  20.  And 
the  wine-press  was  trodden  without  the  city  ;  and  blood 
came  out  of  the  wine-press  even  unto  the  horse-bridles^ 
by  the  space  of  a  thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs. 

xix.  11.  And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold,  a 
white  horse  ;  and  he  that  sat  upon  him  was  called  Faith- 
ful and  true  ;  and  in  righteousness  he  doth  judge,  and 
make  war.  12.  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  on 
his  head  were  many  crowns  :  and  he  had  a  name  written 
that  no  man  knew  but  he  himself:  13.  And  he  was 
clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood :  and  his  name  is 
called  The  Word  of  God.  14.  And  the  armies  which 
were  in  heaven  followed  him  upon  white  horses,  clothed 
in  fine  linen  white  and  clean.  15.  And  out  of  his  mouth 
goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he  should  smite  the 
nations  :  and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  ;  and 
he  treadeth  the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of 
Almighty  God.  16.  And  he  hath  on  his  vesture  and  on 
his  thigh  a  name  "\vritten.  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  17.  And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in  the  sun  ;  and 
he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  fowls  that 
ily  in  the  midst  of  heaven.  Come,  and  gather  yourselves 
together  unto  the  supper  of  the  great  God  ;  18.  That  ye 
may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of  captains,  and 
the  flesh  of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses,  and  of 
them  that  sit  on  them,  and  the  flesh  of  all,  free  and  bond, 
small  and  great.  19.  And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings 
of  the  earth,  and  their  armies,  gathered  together  to  make 
war  against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse,  and  against  his 


267 

army.  20.  And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with  him  the, 
false  prophet  that  wrought  miracles  before  him,  with 
which  he  deceived  them  that  had  received  the  mark  of 
the  beast,  and  them  that  worshipped  his  image :  these  both 
were  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone. 
21.  And  the  remnant  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  him 
that  sat  upon  the  horse,  which  proceeded  out  of  his 
mouth :  and  all  the  fowls  were  filled  with  their  flesh. 

XX.  1.  And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven, 
having  the  key  of  the  abyss,  and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand. 
2.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent, 
which  is  the  devil  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand 
years,  3.  And  cast  him  into  the  abyss,  and  shut  him  up, 
and  set  a  seal  upon  him,  that  he  should  deceive  the 
nations  no  more  till  the  thousand  years  should  be  ful- 
filled :  and  after  that  he  must  be  loosed  a  little  season. 

4.  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and 
judgment  was  given  unto  them.  And  I  saw  the  souls 
of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus  and 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  which  had  not  worshipped  the 
beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received  his  mark 
upon  their  foreheads  or  in  their  hands :  and  they  lived, 
and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  5.  But  the 
rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years 
were  finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection.  6.  Blessed 
and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection :  on 
such  the  second  death  hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him 
a  thousand  years. 

7.  And,  when  the  thoiSsand  years  are  expired,  Satan 
shall  be  loosed  out  of  his  prison ;  8.  And  shall  go  to 
deceive  the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of 
the  earth,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together  to 
battle  :  the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea. 
9.  And  they  went  up  on,  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and 
compassed  the  camp  of  tlie  saints  about,  and  the  beloved 
city  :  and  fire  came  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and 
devoured  them.  10.  And  the  devil  that  deceived  them 
was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  the 
beast  and  the  false  prophet  are,  and  shall  be  tormented 
day  and  night  for  ever  and  ever. 


268 

11.  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat 
on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away ; 
and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  12.  And  I  saw 
the  dead,  both  small  and  great,  stand  before  God ;  and 
the  books  were  opened — 

"xxi.  1.  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth :  for 
the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away ;  and 
there  was  no  more  sea.  2.  And  I  John  saw  the  holy  city 
new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven, 
prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband. 

Dan.  vii.  12.  As  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts,  they 
had  their  dominion  taken  away  :  yet  their  lives  were  pro- 
longed for  a  season  and  a  time.  13.  I  saw  in  the  night- 
visions,  and  behold,  one  like  the  Son  of  man  came  with 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  days; 
and  they  brought  him  near  before  him.  14.  And  there 
was  given  him  dominion  and  glory  and  a  kingdom,  that 
all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should  serve  him:  his 
dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which  shall  not  pass 
away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed. 

COMMENTARY. 

Nearly  every  prophecy,  that  treats  of  the  7'estoration  of 
the  Jews,  treats  likewise  of  the  contemporary  overthrow 
of  so  jne  great  and  impious  combination  ofGod^s  enemies: 
yet,  were  it  not  for  the  predictions  of  Daniel  and  St.  John, 
we  never  could  have  leamt,  previous  to  the  event,  either 
who  those  ene?mes  of  God  are,  or  at  what  era  the  restora- 
tio?i  oftheJexvs  would  take  place.*  Hence  they  are  pecu- 
liarly valuable  and  curious ;  and  hence,  from  their  near 
relation  to  each  other,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  arrange 
theni  together,  considering  them  as  forming  jointly  only 
one  grand  prophecy  in  nature  and  style  perfectly  distinct 
from  all  other  prophecies. 

It  would  be  superfluous  for  me  here  to  enter  into  a  full 
examination  of  them,  inasmuch  as  I  have  already  discus- 
sed them  at  large  in  another  woi-k  *.  I  shall  therefore 
only  briefly  observe,  that  we  learn  from  them,  that  tht 

*  See  a  DUsertation  on  the  Prophecies  relative  to  the  V2Q0  years. 


269 

confederacy  of  God's  enemies,  about  to  be  destroyed  -at 
the  time  of  the  return  of  Judah,  will  consist  of  the  ten- 
horned  beast  imder  his  last  head  ;  an  infidel  power ^  which 
should  spring  up  after  the  era  of  the  reformation,  and 
which  at  the  time  of  the  end  should  be  so  powerful  as  to 
take  the  lead  in  the  confederacy,  thence  warranting  the 
conjecture,  a  conjecture  which  recent  events  have  proved 
to  be  just,  that  sooner  or  later  it  would  become  identified 
with  the  last  head  of  the  beast ;  an  ecclesiastical  ponver, 
which  is  represented  under  the  various  symbols  of  a  little 
horn,  a  tivo-horned  lamb-like  beast,  and  a  harlot,  and  which 
is  sometimes  styled  a  false  prophet,  and  is  sometimes  con- 
sidered as  the  spiritual  part  of  the  great  mystical  city  Ba- 
bylon ;  and  lastly  certain  kings  of  the  earth,  who  are  ap- 
parently in  a  state  of  vassalage  to  these  main  promoters 
of  the  confederacy.  All  these  are  said  to  come  to  their 
end,  and  to  be  destroyed,  after  the  expiration  of  a  certain 
period,  which  contains  1260  years.  And  wc  further 
learn,  by  comparing  prophecy  with  prophecy,  that  they 
will  be  destroyed  in  Palestine :  that  is  to  say,  in  some 
region,  which  extends  1600  furlongs,  as  Palestine  does; 
in  some  region  situate  between  two  seas,  as  Palestine  is ; 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  glorious  holy  mountain,  or 
mount  Zion;  and  in  the  more  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  Megiddo,  which  is  a  tow^n  of  Palestine.  Now,  at  the 
close  likew  ise  of  this  self-same  period  of  1260  years,  we 
are  taught  by  Daniel,  that  the  Jews  are  to  be  restored. 
Whence  it  is  evident,  since  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  is 
declared  to  be  contemporary  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
confederacy  thus  particularly  described  by  Daniel  and 
St.  John,  that  the  confederacy,  which  they  describe,  is 
the  same  as  that  which  all  the  other  prophets  represent 
as  being  similarly  overthrown  in  the  very  same  countr}" 
and  at  the  very  same  era.  Nor  is  this  all :  in  order,  as- 
it  were,  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  error,  Daniel  and 
St.  John  at  once  describe  the  confederacy  of  which  they 
treat,  as  being  overthrown  by  some  divine  interposition ; 
^nd  depict  its  overthrow  by  the  same  imagery,  as  that 
used  by  the  other  prophets  who  treat  of  the  subject.  A 
stone,  cut  out  without  hands,  smites  the  gigantic  image 
upon  his  feet  J  the  ten-horned  beast  and  his  little  horn  are 


270 

supeniaturally  destroyed  ;  the  mjidel  king  comes  to  hiis 
end,  apparently  by  no  mere  human  instrumentality ;  and 
the  ten-horned  beast  under  his  last  head^  together  with  his 
associates  the  false  prophet  and  the  kings  of  the  earthy  is 
routed  in  a  conflict  with  the  victorious  Word  of  God. 
So  again :  does  Isaiah  represent  a  mighty  conqueror  as 
ti'eadiffig  the  wdne-press,  and  as  sprinkled  with  the  blood 
of  his  enemies  ?  so  likewise  does  St.  John  *.  Does  Joel, 
in  a  similar  manner,  exhibit  that  last  dreadful  slaughter 
under  the  image  oi  a  vintage?  so  likewise  does  St.  Johnf. 
Does  Ezekiel  symbolize  one  of  the  members  of  the  con- 
federacy  by  an  opulent  and  corrupt  trading  city  ?  so  like- 
wise does  St.  John  %. 

Who  are  the  enemies,  thus  hieroglyphically  exhibited 
to  us  by  Daniel  and  St.  John,  it  is  perhaps  not  very  dif- 
ficult at  the  present  day  to  determine.  The  ten  toes  of 
the  image,  and  the  fourth  beast  after  he  has  put  forth  his 
ten  horns,  can  only  mean  the  Roman  empire  in  its  last  or 
divided  state ;  and  we  may  add  from  St.  John,  the  Roman 
empire  tinder  its  last  or  septimo-octave  head^  by  which  I 
think  we  must  necessarily  understand  the  Pat7'icio-  Carlo- 
vingian  emperorship.  The  little  horn,  the  false  prophet,  the 
tivo-horned  beast,  the  harlot,  and  the  spiritual  city  Baby- 
lon, are  alike  the  ecclesiastical  empire  of  the  Pope,  or  the 
adulterous  church  of  Rome,  The  infidel  tyrant,  who  was 
to  spring  up  after  the  Reformation,  I  scruple  not  asserting 
to  be  France,  whether  democratical  or  imperial.  And 
the  kings  of  the  earth  and  the  -whole  world  are,  according 
to  the  phraseology  both  of  the  Apocalypse  and  of  the 
Roman  writers  themselves,  the  kings  of  the  bestial  em- 
pire, which  was  wont  to  be  styled  Ecumene,  or  the  world. 
But,  since  these  are  the  enemies  who  (we  are  taught  by 
Daniel  and  St.  John)  will  compose  the  confederacy  about 
to  be  destroyed  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  Judah,  they 
must  likewise  be  the  enemies  who  compose  the  confede- 
racy which  (all  the  other  prophets  teach  us)  will  be 
destroyed  at  the  same  era. 

It  is  interesting  to  turn  from  prophecy  to  facts.     We 
m.ay  now  behold  with  our  own  eyes  the  rudiments  of  that 

*  Isaiah  Ixlii.  Rev.  xlx.  11—21.  f  Joei  iii.  13.  Rev.  xir.  17—20 

•^  Ezek.  xxvii.  xxviii.  Rev.  xviii. 


271 

confederacy,  which  (as  we  learn  from  St.  John)  will  begin 
to  be  gathered  to  the  place  of  its  destruction  at  some  in- 
definite period  after  the  Ottoman  empire  shall  have  been 
subverted ;  the  subversion  of  which  may  seem  indeed  to 
further  its  views,  but  will  in  reality  be  overruled  by  God's 
providence  so  as  only  to  prepare  a  way  for  the  kinp^'sfrotn 
the  east.  The  disastrous  catastrophe  of  Austerlitz  has 
made  the  ruler  of  France,  the  master  of  papal  Europe ; 
and,  effectively  at  least,  the  representative  of  Charlemagne^ 
and  therefore  the  last  head  of  the  Roman  beast.  His  an- 
cient title  of  Emperor  of  the  Romans  seems  to  be  tacitly 
resigned  by  the  sovereign  of  Austria  *  :  and  we  shall 
probably  soon  learn,  whether  the  last  head  will  nominally, 
as  well  as  effectively,  be  identified  with  the  infidel  king. 
Rumours  of  the  speedy  downfal  of  Turkey  are  afloat : 
and  we  see  a  conspiracy  of  vassal  kings  rapidly  forming 
under  the  influence  of  their  acknowledged  and  undoubted 
head,  the  French  emperor.  The  Roma?i  beast,  who  in 
every  period  of  his  existence  has  been  dreadful  and  ter- 
rible and  strong  exceedingly,  \vho  with  his  iron  teeth  has 
devoured  the  whole  earth  and  stamped  the  residue  with 
his  feet  t,  seems  now,  as  the  era  of  his  dissolution  ap- 
proaches, to  arise  and  go  forth  with  ten-fold  fury.  Nor 
can  we  ^vonder  at  this  circumstance,  since  his  last  head 
may  at  present  be  considered  as  identified  with  the  adoles- 
cent Antichrist.  Such  is  the  prospect  of  Europe  at  the 
moment  that  I  am  now  writing  J  :  and  how  accurately, 
how  wonderfully,  does  it  accord  with  prophecy  !  From 
the  past,  and  from  the  present,  we  may  anticipate  the 
future.  Whenever  the  Ottoman  empire  falls,  we  shall  then 

•  At  least  no  mention  is  made  of  this  title  in  his  treaty  with  France,  and 
even  that  of  Germany  seems  to  be  nearly  dropped,  the  Fi-ench  studiously 
terming  him  only  Emperor  of  Austria,  and  himself  apparently  acquiescing  in 
it.  It  is  observable,  that  by  the  5th  article  of  this  treaty  the  French  emperor 
is  acknowledged  to  be  king  of  Italy  ;  and  who  shall  deny,  that  he  is  also,  hke 
Charlemagne,  sovereign  of  Rom,e?  March  1806. 

Since  this  was  written,  the  Germanic  constitution  has  been  formally  dis- 
solved, and  its  cliief  has  solemnly  renounced  his  title  of  Roman  emperor. 
Sept.  1806. 

f  Dan.  vii.  7,  23. 

i:  March  6, 1806.  "I  fear  I  see  too  clearly,"  said  Bp.  Horsley  in  the  year 
1799,  "  the  rise,  instead  of  the  fall,  g^  the  Antichrist  of  the  West.  Or  rather, 
I  fear,  I  see  him  rapidly  advancing  to  full  stature  and  ripe  age."  (Letter  on 
Isaiah  xviii.)  How  marvellous  hath  been  his  growth  in  these  last  seven  years  ! 
Do  we  even  yet  behold  his  full  adolescence  ? 


272 

definitively  know  our  place  in  the  Apocalypse ;  and  the 
strong  light  of  almost  absolute  certainty  will  be  thrown 
upon  the  third  woe ^  and  the  six  first  vials. 

Although  these  prophecies  have  already  been  discussed 
at  large,  so  far  as  the  principal  actors  in  them  are  con- 
cerned, yet  they  contain  some  matters  more  immediately 
connected  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jexvs  which  have  not 
received  quite  so  full  an  examination.  These  shall  now 
be  noticed  in  their  order. 

The  succession  of  events,  detailed  in  the  joint  predic- 
tion of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  is  as  follows.  At  the  pouring 
out  of  the  sixth  vial,  the  Ottoman  empire,  symbolized  as 
under  the  sixth  trumpet  by  the  waters  of  its  principal 
river  the  Euphrates,  is  overthrown  ;  and  prepares  by  its 
subversion  a  way  for  the  kings  from  the  east.  These  kings 
I  cannot  but  consider  as  being  the  Jexvs,  or  perhaps  to 
speak  more  accurately  the  ten  t?ibes  dispersed  through 
the  east  and  lost  in  the  ancient  Assyrian  empire.  Such 
an  interpretation  best  accords  with  other  parallel  prophe- 
cies, which  concur  in  representing  a  verj^  considerable 
body  of  the  Israelites  as  being  brought  out  of  the  east  and 
out  of  the  north.  The  fall  of  the  Ottomaji  empire  howe- 
ver only  prepares  a  way  for  them :  no  intimation  is  given, 
that  they  then  set  out  on  their  expedition ;  which  exactly 
accords  with  what  we  are  taught  respecting  the  period, 
when  we  may  expect  the  return  of  Judah  and  Israel. 
The  restoration  even  of  Judah,  which  will  first  take  place, 
will  not  commence  till  the  1260  years  shall  have  expired: 
and  the  Ottoman  empire  falls  previous  to  the  gathering 
together  of  the  confederacy  to  the  great  battle  of  the 
Lord,  which  will  be  contemporary  with  the  restoration 
of  Judah. 

After  the  downfal  of  Turkey,  the  imperceptible  agency 
of  three  unclean  spirits  will  begin  to  assemble  the  Lati7i 
kings  to  the  last  war  of  Armageddon.  We  may  conclude 
from  the  language  of  tlie  prophet,  that  the  confederacy 
itself  will  in  some  measure  be  already  formed  at  this 
era ;  for  the  impure  spirits  are  represented,  as  not  so 
much  forming  the  confederacy,  as  directing  its  efforts 
after  its  formation  to  a  scheme  of  conquest  which  will 
terminate  only  in  its  own  destruction.     I  have  already 


273 

observed,  that,  wlien  we  consider  the  point  to  which 
we  now  seem  to  be  arrived  in  the  Apocalypse,  we  can 
scarcely  doubt  that  we  behold  the  rudiments  of  this  con- 
federacy rapidly  acquiring  form  and  stability ;  and  that, 
whenever  the  Turkish  empire  is  overthrown,  there  will 
then  be  no  doubt  at  all. 

At  the  pouring  out  of  the  last  vial  the  1260  years  ap- 
parently expire,  and  the  restoration  nfJudah  commences. 
To  this  period  therefore  we  must  ascribe  the  expedition 
of  the  wilful  king  *  ;  and  at  this  same  period  the  stone 
begins  to  smite  the  image  upon  his  feet,  and  the  Ancient 
of  days  to  sit  m  judgment  upon  the  Roman  beast  and  his 

*  There  is  some  reason  for  believing',  that,  during'  the  efiusion  of  the  seventh 
inal  and  the  contemporaneous  expedition  of  Aiitichrist  into  Palestine,  the  sins 
of  the  papal  einpire,  tlien  left  in  a  manner  defenceless,  will  be  severely  pun- 
ished by  tlie  desolating  invasion  of  a  great  northern  nation.  In  the  languag-e 
of  symbols,  a  storm  of  hail  denotes  a  hostile  invasion  fro7ti  the  north,  the  re- 
gion where  the  natural  hail  is  generated.  Accordingly  it  is  used  bj^  St.  John, 
in  his  description  of  the  effects  produced  by  the  first  trumpet,  to  typify  the  ir- 
ruption of  the  northern  tribes  into  the  Eoman  empire.  Now  it  is  wortliy  of  note, 
thatanodier  Afl//-iform  is  to  be  one  of  the  plagues  produced  by  the  seventh 
vial ;  and  it  is  equally  worthy  of  note,  tliat  some  gvea.t  northern  king  is  said  by 
Daniel  to  be  engaged  in  hostilities  with  Antichrist  at  this  very  period.  The 
necessary  conclusion  seems  to  be,  if  I  be  right  in  supposing  the  northern  king 
to  be  Russia,  tliat  the  hail-storm,  of  the  seventh  vial  means  some  dreadful  inva- 
sion of  the  papal  Roman  empire  by  Russia  and  her  northern  allies  during  the 
time  that  Antichrist  is  engaged  in  prosecuting  his  conquests  in  Palestine  and 
Egypt.     This  conjecture  is  founded  upon  Mr.  Butt's  paraphrase  of  Rev.  xvi. 

17,  is,  19,  20,  21 ;  which  the  reader  may  compare  witii  the  text. 

"  17.  And  the  last  minister  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  spiritual  power  of 
mystical  Babylon,  and  there  came  a  great  voice  from  the  established  church 
fromjthe  throne,  saying,  Tlie  mystery  of  God  is  finished.  Antichrist  is  crucified. 

18.  And  tliere  were  thanksgivings,  and  languages,  and  the  thunder  of  prea- 
chers, and  flaslies  of  light ;  and  tliere  was  a  great  revolution,  such  as  never 
was  from  the  time  that  men  were  upon  the  earth  (Comp.  Dan.  xii.  1.).  19.  And 
the  great  nation  and  empire  was  divided  into  three  portions,  and  the  com- 
munities of  the  Christian  Gentiles  were  revolutionized,  and  catholic  Babylon 
came  in  remembrance  before  God  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  crucifixion  and 
extreme  wrath.  20.  And  every  little  state  was  revolutionized,  and  the  king- 
doms were  levelled,  the  foundations  of  the  great  city  annihilated.  21.  And 
great  northern  armies  are  caused  to  descend  by  the  church  and  fall  upon  ci- 
tizens •  and  the  citizens  blasphemed  God  for  the  plague  of  the  northern  ar- 
mies, for  it  was  inexpressibly  heavy  and  dreadful."  Butt's  third  part  of  notes 
on  the  Revelation,  p.  24. 

I  am  no  way  singular  in  supposing,  that  the  effusion  of  the  seventh  vial  syn- 
chronizes witli  the  expedition  of  Antichrist  into  Palestine  and  the  contempo- 
rary restoration  of  f/^e  ye:-.'*.  Commenting  on  Dan.  xii.  1,  Mr.  Lowth  ob- 
serves, "that  the  Scriptures  speak  of  the  extraordinary  appearances  of  God's 
kingdom,  as  ushered  in  by  great  tribulations  (See  Isaiah  xxvi.  20,  21.  Jer, 
XXX.  7.  Matt.  xxiv.  21.).  This  some  learned  men  suppose  to  relate  to  the 
times  of  the  last  vial  (Rev.  xvi.  18.),  when  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  saitli 
the  text,  such  as  ivas  not  since  men  ijsere  upon  the  earth." 

55 


274 

tyrannical  little  horn.  It  is  observable  that  the  stone 
smites  the  image  upon  his  feet  and  his  ten  toes,  previous 
to  his  other  members  being  smitten.  Tliis  exactly  accords 
with  what  Daniel  says  relative  to  the  fa'^  of  the  four  beasts. 
The  Ro7nan  empire  is  to  be  first  destroyed,  and  that  in 
its  divided  form  :  the  lives  of  the  other  three  beasts  are 
to  be  preserved  for  a  season  and  a  time.  And  both  these 
prophecies  equally  accord  with  the  Apocalypse.  After 
the  destruction  of  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  head  and 
the  downfal  of  his  fiilse  prophet  or  harlot-church,  and  after 
the  thousand  years  have  expired,  then  at  length  perish  Gog 
and  Magog;  whose  seats,  together  with  those  of  their 
associates,  are,  as  we  find  from  Ezekiel,  within  the  limits 
of  the  three  first  empires.  I  am  much  inclined  to  think, 
that  the  season  and  the  time,  during  which  the  lives  of 
the  three  beasts  were  to  be  preserved,  is  only  another 
mode  of  expressing  the  thousand  years  mentioned  by  St. 
John.  As  a  day  in  the  pro]:>hetic  language  is  a  year,  so 
a  great  ti?ne  or  year  of  the  Lord  was  thought  by  the  Jews 
to  comprehend  a  thousand  years;  and  xX-ns great  ti?ne\\\ty 
were  wont  to  style  the  great  day  of  judgment,  shewing 
thereby  that  days,  and  years,  and  millenaries,  are  equal  in 
the  sight  of  God  *^.  At  any  rate  the  time,  during  which 
the  lives  of  the  three  beasts  were  to  be  preserved,  un- 
doubtedly coincides  witli  the  thousand  years  ;  whence  we 
are  naturally  led  to  conclude,  that  Daniel  did  not  mean 
an  indefinite  time,  but  a  time  or  year  of  some  description 
or  another.  It  cannot  however  be  a  time  o/*  360  years, 
because  it  coincides  with  the  Mdlennium ;  therefore  it 
must  be  a  great  time  or  year  of  1000  years. 

The  whole  war,  which  terminates  with  the  battle  of 
Armageddon,  is  both  minutely  and  geographically  detail- 
ed by  Daniel.  The  confederacy  under  its  leader  the  infidel 
king  will,  at  the  time  of  the  end  or  the  clos^  of  the  1260 
years,  be  opposed  by  a  king  of  the  north  and  a  king  of 
the  south ;  yet,  in  spite  of  their  efforts,  it  will  succeed 
in  overflowing  man}'  countries,  and  in  conquering  Pales- 
tine, Egypt,  Libya,  and  the  land  of  Cush.  In  the  midst  of 
these  victories  its  chief  will  be  disturbed  by  some  unto- 

*  The  reader  will  find  some  very  curious  remarks  on  this  subject  by  Mr. 
Mede  in  his  AVorks,  B.  v.  C.  o. 


275 

ward  tidings  out  of  the  north  and  out  of  the  east:  tidings 
probably  of  the  arrival  in  Palestine  of  the  navy  of  the 
great  maritime  power  with  the  converted  ofJudah^  which, 
supposing  the  infidel  king  to  be  then  in  Egypt  and  Libya, 
would  reach  him  from  the  north  and  north-east.  Enraged 
at  such  ungrateful  news,  he  will  go  forth  in  his  fury  to 
devote  to  utter  destruction  his  opponents :  and  he  will 
succeed  in  taking  Jerusalem.  This  however  will  be  his 
last  victory.  Advancing  to  Megiddo  a  town  near  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  where  (as  we  learn  from 
St.  John)  the  conflict  will  be  finally  decided ;  advancing 
therefore  (will  the  conjecture  be  deemed  too  unreason- 
able?)  against  the  forces  of  the  maritime  power ^  and  such 
of  the  Jews  as  shall  be  under  its  protection  (the  apostates 
themselves  perhaps,  late  the  allies  oi  Antichrist,  being  now 
of  the  number,  and  converted) :  advancing,  I  say,  against 
this  town,  he  shall  there  unexpectedly  come  to  his  end, 
none  being  able  to  help  him.  The  triumphant  Word  of 
God  shall  break  his  confederacy,  that  Babel  which  he 
had  so  long  been  carefully  erecting ;  and,  at  the  head  of 
the  armies  of  heaven,  shall  supernaturally  overwhelm  him 
with  sudden  destruction. 

During  this  period  of  unexampled  trouble,  which  so 
awfully  terminates  with  the  slaughter  of  Megiddo,  we 
are  expressly  taught  by  Daniel,  in  perfect  harmony  w^ith 
the  other  inspired  prophets,  that  the  restoration  of  Judah 
shall  take  place  :  consequently  the  v.'hole  prophecy  rela- 
tive to  the  expedition  of  Antichrist  must  be  so  interpreted 
as  to  harmonize  with  the  many  predictions  which  treat 
oi  the  conversion  arid  retiwn  of  the  ancient  people  of  God, 

Yet,  at  the  time  when  the  power  of  Antichrist  is  bro- 
ken, all  his  followers  will  not  be  involved  in  indiscriminate 
destruction.  The  least  guilty  will  be  spared,  converted, 
and  scattered  into  all  nations.  Wherever  they  go,  they  will 
carry  the  wonderful  tidings,  that  God  hath  overthrown  his 
enemies,  and  accomplished  the  restoration  of  his  people 
Judah.  One  thing  only  remains  to  complete  the  grand 
scheme  of  general  redemption,  and  fulfil  the  sure  word 
of  prophecy.  Though  Judah  hath  returned,  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Is?-aelYC\n^in  still  to  be  gathered.  But  the)' 
shall  not  long  continue  in  the  land  of  their  captivit}'. 


276 

Struck  with  the  marv  ellous  tidhigs  of  those  that  had  escap- 
ed from  the  slaughter  of  Megiddo,  all  nations  shall  bring 
the  brethren  of  Judah^  an  offering  unto  the  Lord,  to  hig 
holy  mountain  to  Jerusalem;  the  stick  of  Joseph  shall  be 
united  with  the  stick  ofJudah;  one  king,  even  the  mysti- 
cal David,  shall  be  khig  unto  them  all ;  and  they  shall  be 
no  more  two  nations,  neither  shall  they  be  divided  any 
more  into  two  kingdoms*. 

This  circumstance  of  a  two-fold  successive  restoratio?i 
will  perhaps  shew  us,  as  I  have  already  observed,  why 
Daniel  divides  the  75  years y  M'hich  will  intervene  between 
the  expiration  of  the  1260  years  and  the  commencemejit  of 
the  1000  years  or  the  season  of  millennian  blessedness, 
into  30  years  and  45  years.  The  30  years  may  be  taken 
up  with  the  restoi'ation  of  Judah^  and  the  Antichrist ia7i 
war  of  the  infdel  king  and  his  associates  at  the  time  of  the 
end ;  the  45  years  may  be  occupied  with  the  subsequent 
restoration  of  Israel^  in  consequence  of  the  tidings  cai'ried 
far  and  wide  by  the  converted  fugitives  from  Armaged- 
don. AVlien  the  75  years  ha\'e  elapsed,  and  when  the 
whole  house  of  Jacob  has  been  brought  back,  then  will 
commence  the  thousand  years  of  the  reign  of  the  saintsf. 
None  except  vital  Christians,  none  except  protestants  in 
reality  no  less  than  in  name,  will  then  hold  the  reins  of 
government  throughout  the  whole  world ;  the  tyranny  of 
Popery  and  Infidelity  will  be  every  where  subverted ; 
earth  wdll  become  a  school  for  heaven  in  a  far  higher  sense 
than  it  has  ever  yet  been ;  and  man,  daily  conversing 
with  his  Maker,  shall  eat  as  it  were  angels'  food,  and 
walk  as  it  were  upon  the  threshold  of  the  world  of  spirits. 

At  the  close  of  the  Millennium,  after  the  destruction 
of  Gog;  and  Mago^^^  the  second  or  general  resurrection 
will  take  place.   The  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  shall 

*  Isaiah  Ixvi.  19— 24.     Ezek.xxxvii.  19— ^5. 

f  "We  iTiay  vMitiue  to  say  in  general,  tliat  there  inay  be  a  considerable 
space  of  time  between  the  fall  of  J?U/c/;;7jf,  and  the  last  judg-ments  which 
sluiU  be  inflicted  upon  him.  Some  learned  men,  who  have  compared  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  and  the  Kevelation  to(;;et]ier,  suppose  the  interval  of 
lime  betw^een  the  1260  days  and  the  13 35  days  to  be  included  within  the  times 
<>?  the  seventh  trumpet,  during-  wliich  the  seven  last  pla!^-ties  will  be  fulfilled." 
(^rr.  Lo-.vth's  Coiliment.  on  Dan.  xii.  12.)  This  interval  of  time  appears  to 
me  to  bcloni>-  exclusively  to  the  seventh  vial,  as  others  have  perhaps  more, 
justly  imagiiitd.     See  Mr.  Lowth  on  Dan.  .xii.  1. 


277 

pass  away,  aiid  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  shalt 
occupy  their  place.  The  Church  of  God  shall  be  finally 
translated  to  everlastmg  rest  and  happiness  ;  tears  shall 
be  wiped  from  every  eye  ;  and  death  shall  be  swallowed 
up  in  victory. 


PROPHECY  XXVII. 

The  restoration  of  Israel — Their  instrumentality  in  converting  the 
Gentiles — The  state  of  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  their  dispersion. 

Hosea  i.  2.  The  beginning-  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  by 
Hosea  was  in  this  manner.  The  Lord  said  unto  Hosea; 
Go,  take  to  thee  a  wife  of  prostitution,  and  children  of 
promiscuous  commerce :  for  the  land  is  perpetually  play- 
ing the  wanton,  forsaking  the  Lord.  3.  So  he  went,  and 
took  Gomer,  daughter  of  Diblaim ;  and  she  conceived, 
and  bare  him  a  son.  4.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him, 
call  his  name  Jezrael  (a  seed  oj  God);  for  yet  a  little 
while,  and  I  will  visit  the  blood  of  Jezrael  upon  the  house 
of  Jehu,  and  I  will  abolish  the  kingdom  of  the  house  of 
Israel.  5.  And  it  shall  be  in  that  very  day  *,  when  I 
break  the  bow  of  Israel  in  the  valley  of  Jezrael.  6.  And 
she  conceived  again,  and  bare  a  daughter.  And  God 
said,  Call  her  name  Lo-Ruhamah  (not  beloved) :  fori 
will  no  more  cherish  with  tenderness  the  house  of  Israel, 
insomuch  as  to  be  perpetually  forgiving  them.  7.  But 
the  house  of  Judah  with  tenderness  I  will  cherish ;  and  I 
will  save  them  by  the  Lord  their  God  \ ;  and  will  not 

*  In  that  very  day.'\  "  This  entire  abolition  of  the  ilvgdom  of  the  ten  tril/Qs 
shall  take  effect  at  the  time  when  I  break  the  bo%v  of  Israel  in  the  valley  of 
Jezrael."     Bp.  llorsley's  Hosea  in  loc. 

j  I  'liiiU  save  them  by  Jehovah  their  God.']  "These  expressions  are  too 
magnificent  to  be  understood  of  any  thing'  but  thejinul  rescue  of  the  yciosfrovi 
the  pov^er  rf  Antichrist  in  the  latter  ages,  h\<  the  incarnate  God  destroying  the  ene- 
Tiiy  ijaith  the  brightness  of  his  coming  ;  of  which  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib's 
army,  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  might  be  a  type,  but  it  was  nothing  more.  It 
may  seem  perhaps,  that  the  proj)hecy  points  at  some  deliverance  peculi.ir  to 
the  house  of  "J-udah,  in  which  the  ten  tribes  vf\]\.\vxve  no  share  ;  such  as  the  over- 
thruKt:  rf  Sennacherib  actually  was  :  whereas  the  de:tructioii  rf  Antichrist  will 
be  an  universal  bk-ssing.  But,  in  the  diflerent  treatment  oi' the  house  of  Ju- 
tiah  and  the  house  of  Israel,  we  see  the  prophecy  hitherto  i-emarkablj  veriiied. 
After  the  excision  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribe.':,  yudah,  tliougli  occayionaliy 


278 

siWe  them  by  bow,  nor  by  sword,  nor  by  battle,  by  hor- 
ses, nor  by  horsemen.  8»  And  she  weaned  Lo-Ruha- 
mah  ;  and  she  conceived,  and  bare  a  son.  9.  And  God 
said.  Call  his  name  Lo-Anmii  fiiot  a  people  of  mine  J,  for 
ye  are  no  people  of  mine,  and  I  will  not  be  yours. 
10.  Nevertheless  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel  * 
shall  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  measur- 
ed, and  cannot  be  counted;  and  it  shall  be,  that,  in  the 
place  t  where  it  was  said  unto  them,  No  people  of  mine 
aie  ye,  there  it  shall  be  said  unto  them.  Children  of  the 
living  God.  11.  And  the  children  of  Judah  shall  be  col- 
lected!, ^^^"^^  ^^^  children  of  Israel  shall  be  united,  and 
they  shall  appoint  themselves  one  head,  and  come  up  from 
the  earth.     For  eTcat  shall  be  the  dav  of  Jezrael  \. 

visited  •with  severe  judgments,  continued  however  to  be  clierished  witli 
God's  love,  till  they  rejected  our  Lord.  Then  yudali  became  Lo-Ammi ;  but 
still  continues  to  be  visibly  an  object  of  God's  love,  preserved  as  a  distinct 
race  for  gracious  purposes  of  mercy.  Perhaps  in  the  last  ages  t'le  converts  of 
i/ie  house  of  yudah  will  be  the  principal  objects  of  Aiitichri.st^s  malice.  Their 
deliverance  may  be  first  wrouglit,  and  through  them  the  blessing  may  be  ex- 
tended to  their  brethren  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  ultimately  to  the  wiiole  world. 
This  order  of  things  the  subsequent  prophecy  seems  to  point  out."  (Hp.  Hors- 
}ey  in  loc.)  Other  prophecies  teach  us,  tliattiie  deliverance  of  the  converted 
of  Judah  v:ill  be  first  wrought.  In  fact,  the  ten  tribes  will  have  no  share  in  the 
deliverance  from  Antichrist.  His  wrath  will  be  directed  exclusively  against 
yudah  :  and  the  ten  tribes  will  not  be  restored  until  after  his  final  overtiirovr 
between  the  seas  in  the  land  of  Palestine. 

*  The  number  of  the  children  of  Israel.  ~\  "  I  think  this  is  to  be  understood 
of  the  mystical  Israel  ,■  their  numbers,  consisting  of  myriads  of  converts,  both 
of  the  natural  Israel,  and  their  adopted  brethren  of  the  Gentiles,  shall  be  im- 
measurably great."  (Bp.  Ilorsley  in  loc).  It  may  however  relate,  with  per- 
haps equal  proprietA^  to  the  literal  Israel.  See  Ezek.  xxxvii.  2,  10.  and 
Isaiah  xlix.  19,  20,  2i. 

■\  In  the  place.']  "  That  is  at  Jerusalem,  or  at  least  in  Judea,  where  this 
prophecy  was  delivered,  and  where  tlie  execution  of  the  sentence  took  place. 
There,  in  that  very  ])lace,  they,  to  whom  it  was  said,  2e  are  no  people  rfinine, 
shall  be  called  children  of  the  living  God.  This  must  relate  to  the  natural  Israel 
if  the  house  nf  y'udah,  for  to  them  it  was  said,  Te  are  no  people  of  mine.  And, 
•since  they  are  to  be  acknowledged  again  as  the  children  of  the  living  God  iir 
the  same  place  where  this  sentence  was  pronounced  and  executed,  the  pro- 
phecy clearly  promises  their  restoration  to  their  own  land."  Bp.  Horsley 
in  ioc. 

t  The  children  of  yudah  shall  be  collected.']  "  Vv'Iicn  converts  of  the  house  of 
yudah  shall  have  obtained  a  re-settlement  in  the  Holy  Land,  tlien  a  general 
conversion  shall  take  place  of  the  race  of  yudah,  and  the  race  of  the  ten  tribes. 
They  shall  unite  in  one  confession,  and  in  one  polity,  under  one  king-,  Christ 
the  Saviour."     Up.  Horsley  in  loc. 

§  Great  shall  be  the  day  of  yezraelT]  "  Great  and  happy  shall  be  tlie  day, 
when  tlie  lioly  seed  of  bncii  branches  of  tlie  natural  Israel  shall  be  ])ublicly 
acknowledged  of  their  God  ;  united  under  one  head,  their  kitig  Messiah  ;  and 
restored  to  the  possession  of  tiie  promised  land,  and  to  a  situation  of  high 
pre-eminence  among  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth."     (Bp.  Horsley  in  loc.) 


279 

ii.  21.  And  it  shall  be  in  that  day,  I  will  perform  m^ 
part,  saith  the  Lord.  I  will  perform  my  part  upon  the 
heavens ;  and  they  shall  perform  their  part  upon  the 
earth ;  22.  And  the  earth  shall  perform  her  part  upon 
the  corn,  and  the  wine,  and  the  oil ;  and  they  shall  per- 
form their  part  upon  the  Jezrael  (the  seed  of  GodJ. 
23.  And  I  will  sow  her*  as  a  seed,  for  my  own- self,  in 
the  earth ;  and  with  tenderness  I  will  cherish  her,  that 
had  been  Lo-Ruhamah  fthe  not  belovedj;  and  I  will  say 
to  Lo-Ammi  (no  people  of  mine).  Am  mi  (my  own  peo- 
ple) art  thou ;  and  he  shall  say,  My  God. 

iii.  1.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me  again.  Go,  love  the 
woman  addicted  to  wickedness  and  an  adultress ;  after 
the  manner  of  the  Lord's  love  for  the  childreh  of  Israel, 
although  they  look  to  other  gods,  and  are  addicted  to 
goblets  of  wine.  2.  So  I  owned  her  as  my  own  by 
fifteen  pieces  of  silver,  and  a  homer  and  a  half  of  barley. 
3.  And  I  said  unto  her.  Many  days  shalt  thou  tarry  for 
me  t ;  thou  shalt  not  play  the  wanton,  and  thou  shalt  not 
have  to  do  with  a  husband,  neither  will  I  with  thee. 

4.  For  many  days  shall  the  children  of  Israel  tarr}', 
without  king,  and  without  ruler  J,  and  without  sacri- 
fice §,  and  without  statue,  and  without  ephod  and  tera- 
phim  II .    5.  Afterward  shall  the  children  of  Israel  return, 

Great  likewise  will  this  day  be,  as  a  day  of  judgment  upon  the  Antichristian 
faction. 

*  Ituili  so%v  her.']  "  The  myriads  of  the  7iatural  Israel,  converted  by  the 
preaching-  oftlie  Apostles,  were  the  first  seed  of  the  Universal  Churcli.  And 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  the  restoration  of  the  coii'oerted  yeivs  will  be 
the  occasion  and  means  of  a  prodigious  influx  of  new  converts  from  the  Gen- 
tiles in  the  latter  ages.  (Rom.  xi.  12,  15.)  Tluis  the  yezrael  of  the  natural 
Israel  from  the  first  liave  been,  and  to  the  last  will  prove,  a  seed  sown  of 
God  for  himself  in  the  earth."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

f  Many  days  shalt  thou  tarry  for  one.']  "The  condition  of  the  woman,  re- 
strained from  licentious  courses,  owned  as  a  wife,  but  without  restitution  of 
conjugal  rites,  admirably  re]5resents  tlie  present  state  of  tlie  7"''"'^'*)  "manifest- 
ly owned  as  a  peculiar  people,  withheld  form  idolatry,  but  as  yet  without 
access  to  God  through  the  Saviour."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

\  Without  king  and  'Oiithojit  ruler.]  "  Without  a  monarch,  and  without  an\ 
government  of  their  own."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

§  Without  sacrifice.]  "Deprived  of  the  means  of  offering  the  typical  sacri- 
fices of  the  law,  and  having  as  yet  no  share  in  the  true  sacrifice  of  Christ." 
Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

U  Without  statue,  ephod,  and  tcraphiin.  ]  "  After  much  consideration  of  the 
passage,  and  of  much  that  has  been  written  upon  it  by  expositors,  I  rest  in 
the  opinion  strenuously  maintained  by  the  learned  Pocock  ;  in  which  he 
agrees  with  many  tliat  went  before  bam,  and  has  the  concurrence  of  many 


289 

and  seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David  their  king,  and 
seek  the  Lord  and  his  goodness,  in  the  end  of  days. 

COMMEXTAIIY. 

God,  having  foretold  by  the  mouth  of  Hosea  the  sub- 
version of  the  two  kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel^  declares, 
with  reference  to  the  first  restoration  from  Babylon^  that 
he  will  no  more  cherish  with  tenderness  the  house  of 
Israel,  but  that  the  house  of  Judah  he  will  cherish  with 
tenderness.  Afterwards,  with  reference  to  the  second 
restoration,  he  promises  that  the  number  of  the  children 
of  Israel  shdXl  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea;  that  the  children 
of  Judah  shall  be  collected,  and  that  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  be  united  with  them  ;  and  that  they  shall  appoint 
themselves  one  head,  even  Christ  the  Lord.  For,  although 
they  shall  continue  many  days  without  any  independent 
polit)%  without  availing  themselves  of  the  great  mediato- 
rial sacrifice,  and  yet  without  relapsing  into  the  idola- 
try of  their  fathers;  they  shall  nevertheless,  at  the  end  of 
the  days, — after  the  termination  of  the  1260  years,  and 
throughout  the  whole  period  of  the  Millennium, — return 
from  their  captivity,  and  seek  the  liOrd  their  God  and 
the  mystical  David  their  king. 

Hiat  came  after,  Luther,  Calvin,  Vatabliis,  Druslus,  Livelye,  Houbi^ant,  and 
Abp.  Newcome,  with  many  others  of  inferiornote  :  I  rest,  I  say,  ai"ter  much 
consideration  in  the  opinion,  that  statue,  ephod,  and  teraphim,  are  mentionecl 
as  principal  implements  of  idolatrous  rites.  And  the  sum  of  tlie  Ath  verse  is 
this  :  that  for  many  ag^es  tJie  ycivs  would  not  be  their  own  masters  ;  would  be 
deprived  of  the  exercise  of  their  own  relig'ion,  in  its  most  essential  parts  ;  not 
rmbracing-  the  Cliristian,  they  would  have  no  share  in  the  true,  service  ;  and 
yet  would  be  restrained  from  idolatry,  to  which  tl\eir  forefathers  had  been 
sr)  prone.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  this  Ath  verse  is  the  exposition  of  the 
tvpe  of  the  prophet's  dealing-  with  his  wife.  If  the  restriction  of  the  ye^vs 
from  idolatry  is  not  mentioned,  we  have  nothing'  in  the  exposition  answerinf^ 
lothat  article  of  the  typical  contract  with  the  woman.  Thou  shah  not  play  the 
wanton.  And  certainly  the  restriction  from  idolatry  is  not  mentioned  in  this 
4f/i  verse  at  all,  if  it  be  not  represented  by  tarrying  'without  statue,  withotii 
ephod,  and  teraphim."     Rp.  Horsley  in  IcjC. 

Tiie  exposition  of  Vitrinp^a  is  to  the  same  purpose.  "  Quxso  jam,  respice 
Kortem  hujus  g-entis  in  prxsenti  exilio.  Est  per  divortium  separata  a  Deo, 
nectamcn  facta  alteri  viro.  Non  transiit  ad  alias  nuptias.  Abstinet  idolola- 
tria,  et  vnlt  etiamnv.m  censeri  populus  Dei,  expectaus  s^ratiam  sibi  foedere 
pfjodictam,  ut  clarissime  pr^cinerat  Haseas."     Vitring.  in  Isai.  1.  2- 


281 


PROPHECY  XXVIII. 

The  captivity  of  Judah  and  Israel — The  application  of  some  of  their 
members  to  the  mystic  Assyrian  to  efl'ect  their  restoration — Their 
distress — .Their  final  political  revival. 

Hosea  v.  8.  Blow  ye  the  cornet  In  Gibeah,  the  trum- 
pet in  Ramah  ;  sound  an  alarm  at  Bethaven.  L>ook  be- 
hind thee,  O  Benjamin.  9.  Ephraim  shall  be  given  up 
to  desolation,  in  the  day  of  rebuke,  among  the  tribes  of 
Israel :  I  have  declared  what  shall  surely  be.  10.  The 
rulers  of  Judah  have  been  as  those  that  remove  the 
bounds  *.  Upon  them  like  a  flood  I  will  pour  out  my 
fury.  11.  Ephraim  is  hard  pressed,  ruined  in  judg- 
ment t ;  because  he  is  self-willed,  walking  after  a  com- 
mandment J.  12.  Therefore  am  I  as  a  moth  in  the  gar- 
ment to  Ephraim,  and  as  a  worm  in  the  flesh  to  the  house 
of  Judah.  13.  When  Ephraim  perceives  his  holes,  and 
Judah  his  corrupted  sore,  then  Ephraim  will  betake  him 
to  the  Assyrian,  and  send  to  the  king  who  takes  up  all 
quarrels  \ .  But  he  shall  not  be  able  to  repair  the  damage 
for  you,  nor  shall  he  make  a  cure  of  your  corrupted  sore. 
14.  For,  I  will  be  as  a  lion  unto  Ephraim,  and  as  a  young 
lion  to  the  house  of  Judah.  I,  I  will  seize  the  prey,  and 
begone  ;   I  will  carry  off,  and  none  shall  rescue.   15.  I 

*  Those  that  remove,  the  bounds.']  "  That  is,  they  have  confounded  the  dis- 
linctions  of  right  and  wrong.  They  have  turned  upside  dovon  all  political  orders 
and  all  manner  of  religion.     Englisli  Geneva."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

f  Ephraim  is — ruined  in  judgment.']  "  That  is,  he  has  no  defence  to  set  up 
ag-ainst  tlie  accusation  brought  against  him  ;  he  has  nothing  to  say  for  him- 
self."    Bp.  Horelcj'  in  loc. 

^  Self-ii'illed,  walking  after  a  com,mandment.']  "That  is,  although  he  has  a 
commandment  to  walk  after,  namely  the  divine  law,  yet  he  will  take  his  owu 
way;  and  this  he  does,  notwithstanding  he  pretends  to  acknowledge  the 
authority  of  the  commandment.  The  ten  tribes  pretended  to  be  worshippers 
of  Jehovah  ;  but  they  worshipped  him  in  the  calves  at  Dan  and  Bethel ;  and 
they  appointed  a  priesthood  of  their  own,  in  prejudice  of  the  prerogative  of 
the  sons  of  Levi."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc, 

§  The  king  luho  takes  up  all  quarrels.']  "This  describes  some  powerful 
monarch,  who  took  upon  him  to  interfere  in  all  quarrels  between  inferioi* 
powers  ;  to  arbitrate  between  them,  and  compel  them  to  make  up  their  dif- 
ferences, upon  such  terms  as  he  thought  proper  to  dictate  :  whose  alliance 
was  of  bourse  anxiously  courted  by  weaker  states.  Such  was  the  Assyrian 
monarch  in  the  times,  to  which  the  prophecy  relates"  primarily  ;  and  such 
will  be  his  antitype,  the  last  head  oj" the  Roman  Babylon,  in  the  times,  to  which 
it  relates  secondarily  and  ultimatelv.    Bp.  Horsley  in  I09. 

36 


282 

will  begone,  I  will  return  unto  my  place  *  ;  till  what  time 
they  acknowledge  their  guilt,  and  seek  my  face.  When 
distress  is  upon  them,  they  will  rise  early  to  seek  me. 

vi.  1.  Come,  and  let  us  return  unto  the  Lord.  For  he 
hath  torn,  but  he  will  make  us  whole  :  he  hath  inflicted 
the  wound,  but  he  will  apply  the  bandage.  2,  He  will 
bring  us  to  life  after  two  days  ;  in  the  third  day  he  will 
raise  us  up,  and  w^e  shall  live  in  his  presence.  3.  Then 
we  shall  know,  we  shall  pursue  after  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord.  His  coming  forth  is  fixed  as  the  morning ; 
and  he  shall  come  upon  us  as  the  pouring  shower,  as 
the  hai*vest  rain,  as  the  rain  of  seed-time  upon  the  earth 
— 10 — I  have  seen  a  horrible  thing:  fornications  in 
Ephraim !  Israel  polluted!  11.  Moreover,  O  Judali, 
harvest- work  is  appointed  for  tliee,  when  I  bring  back 
the  -captivity  of  my  people. 

CO^VIMENTARY. 

The  prophet  begins  with  foretelling  the  captivity  of 
Judah  and  Israel ;  and  declares,  that  in  consequence  of 
their  sins,  they  shall  be  deprived  of  their  former  great- 
ness and  prosperity.  Sensibly  feeling  their  degraded 
situation,  they  shall  at  length  endeavour  to  extricate 
themselves  from  it  by  the  undue  means  of  applying  to  a 
king,  xvlio  officiously  takes  up  all  quarrels,  and  of  whom 
the  king  of  Assyria  ^\'as  a  type,  as  the  first  restoration 
from  Babylon  was  a  type  of  the  second  restoration  from 
the  mystic  Babylon  or  the  Roman  empire.  Yet  this  king 
shall  not  be  able  to  repair  their  damages,  nor  to  make  a 
cure  of  their  corrupted  sore.  For  the  Lord  will  arise  as 
a  lion  in  his  WTath,  and  will  execute  vengeance  botli 
upon  them  and  their  presumptuous  ally. 

This  ki?ig  exactly  answers  to  the  description  of  Anti- 
ch?'istf  who  w  ill  then  be  the  last  head  of  the  Roman  beasts 
as  the  Assyria?!  was  the  head  of  the  Babylo7iian  beast:  and 
such  accordingly  I  take  him  to  be.  Certain  of  tlie  uncon- 
verted Jews  will  accept  his  offer  to  restore  them  to  their 

*  I  will  begone,  I  ivill  return  unto  ony  place.'}  "I  will  withdraw  myself 
from  them,  till  by  a  sincere  humiliation  they  implore  my  favour.  The  Chaldee 
paraphrase  expresses  the  sense  thus,  Iiuill  take  aivay  my  majestic  presence  or 
Shechinah  from,  among  them,  and  •will  return  into  heaven.'*    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc 


283 

own  country  ;  and  it  appears  likewise  from  the  prophecy 
(what  indeed  is  highly  probable  in  itself),  that  several 
members  of  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim  or  the  ten  tribes^ 
now  scattered  through  the  east,  will  be  both  invited  and 
induced  by  him  to  join  themselves  to  his  confederacy. 
Such  however  is  not  the  way,  in  which  God  has  decreed 
to  restore  the  main  body  of  his  ancient  people.  The  king 
shall  be  utterly  overthrown ;  and  many  of  his  Israelitish 
allies  shall  perish  with  him  *. 

Yet  the  rest  of  these  misguided  wTetches,  when  dis- 
tress  is  upon  them,  will  rise  early  to  seek  the  Lord. 
They  will  look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and 
they  wall  mourn  for  him  as  one  that  mourneth  for  an  only 
son.  They  will  join  their  believing  brethren,  who  had 
been  restored  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  great  mari- 
time power ;  and  with  them  wull  say,  Come,  and  let  us 
return  unto  the  Lord. 

To  express  the  political  revivification  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  Hosea,  like  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  uses  the  allegory 
of  a  resurrection -f.  After  two  days  God  will  bring  life 
into  them ;  yea,  in  the  third  day  he  wall  raise  them  up, 
and  they  shall  live  in  his  presence.  These  three  days 
mean,  I  apprehend,  the  three  great  days  o{  Patriarchism, 
Judaism,  and  Christianity  ;  that  is,  according  to  the  tra- 
dition of  the  house  of  Elias,  the  day  before  the  law,  the 
day  under  the  law,  and  the  day  of  the  Messiah.  After 
the  two  first,  and  in  the  evening  ot  the  third,  iininediatcly 
before  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium,  the  resur- 
rection of  the  whole  house  of  Israel  will  take  place  ;  first 
the  resurrection  of  Judah,  and  afterwards  the  resurrection 
of  Ephraim.  Then  the  ancient  people  of  God  shall  know, 
and  pursue  after  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord :  for  his 
coming  forth  is  sure  as  the  return  of  the  morning ;  and 
he  shall  abundantly  water  with  his  Spirit  that  Church, 
which  has  long  been  a  waste  and  desolate  wilderness  J. 

*  This  passage  can  only  relate  to  certain  individuals  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
ten  tribes ;  for  the  main  body  of  the  ten  tribes  will  be  restored  after  the  over- 
throw oi  Antichrist,  and  in  consequence  of  the  fugitives  from  his  army  being 
scattered  through  all  countries.     Isaiah  Ixvi.  15 — 24. 

-j- "  The  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation  is  often  described,  as  if  it  were  a 
new  life  from  the  dead."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

:t:  Bp.  Horsley  interprets  this  passage  somewhat  differently  from  what,  upon 
s«v  attentive  consideration  of  it,  I  have  ventured  to  do :  we  both  however  make 


284 

Horrible  indeed  have  been  the  spiritual  fornications 
both  of  Judah  and  Israel;  yet,  when  the  Lord  shall  bring 
back  the  captivity  of  his  people,  great  will  be  the  harvest- 
work  appointed  lor  Judali^.  While  he  shall  be  made,  on 

the  period  of  this  f.gurati>ve  resurrection  to  be  the  same.  *•  Jehovali,  who  had 
departed,  will  return  ;  and  again  exhibit  Ihe  sig'ns  of  his  presence  among'  his 
chosen  people.  So  the  converted  and  restored  Jews  will  Use  in  Iiis  presence- 
The  two  days  and  the  third  day  seem  to  denote  three  distinct  periods  of  the 
Jewish  people.  The  first  day  is  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes  by  the  Assyrians, 
and  of  the  two  wider  the  Babylonians,  considered  as  one  judgment  upon  tiie 
nation  ;  beginning  with  the  captivity  of  the  ten,  and  completed  in  that  of  the 
two.  The  second  day  is  the  whole  period  of  the  present  condition  of  the  yews, 
beginning  with  the  dispersion  of  the  nation  with  the  Romans.  The  third  day 
is  the  period  yet  to  coine,  beginning  with  their  restoration  at  the  second  advent. 
R.  Tanchum,  as  he  is  quoted  by  Dr.  Pococke,  was  not  far,  1  think,  from  the 
true  meaning  of  the  place.  The  prophet,  he  s&ys,  points  out  t-xo  times, — and 
those  are  the  first  captivity,  and  a  second.  After  which  shall  follow  a  third  time  ; 
Redemption  :  after  which  shall  be  no  depression  or  servitude.  And  this  1  take  to 
be  the  sense  of  the  propliecy  in  immediate  application  to  the  yews.  Never- 
theless, whoever  is  well  acquainted  with  the  allegorical  style  of  prophecy, 
when  he  recollects,  that  our  Lord's  sufferings  were  instead  of  the  sufferings 
and  death  of  sinners  ;  tliat  we  are  baptized  into  his  death  ;  and  by  baptism 
into  his  death  are  buried  with  him  ;  and  that  he,  rising  on  the  third  day,  rais- 
ed us  to  the  hope  of  life  and  immortality ;  will  easily  perceive  no  very  obscure, 
though  but  an  oblique,  allusion  to  our  Lord's  resurrection  on  the  third  day : 
since  ever}'  believer  may  speak  of  our  Lord's  death  and  resurrection,  as  a 
common  death  and  resurrection  of  all  believers."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

My  objection  to  his  Lordship's  interpretation  is  this  :  the  yews  indeed  have 
gone  into  two  captivities,  which  might  in  some  sort  be  termed  two  days ;  but 
the  ten  tribes  have  gone  only  into  one,  from  which  they  have  never  yet  return- 
ed. Now,  since  the  propiiet  directs  us  jointly  to  consider  the  captivity  both 
of  yudah  and  Israel,  are  we  warranted  in  dividing  the  unbroken  captivity  of 
Israel  into  two  days,  merely  because  yudah  has  twice  been  led  away  captive  ? 

*  "  Harvest-work  is  cut  out  for  yudah  at  the  season  of  bringing  back  the 
captivity.  T/^e  ?r/6e  o/'^i/rAiA  is  in  some  extraordinary  way  to  be  an  instru- 
ment of  the  general  restoration  vi'  the  ytni-h/i  people."  (Bp.  Horsley  in"  loc). 
The  Bishop  adds,  what  I  cannot  refrain  from  esteeming  rather  too  sweeping 
a  clause,  "  Observe,  that  the  vintage  is  always  an  image  of  the  season  tfjudg- 
■tnent ;  but  the  harvest,  of  the  in-gathering  of  the  objects  of  God's  final  mercy.  I 
am  not  aware,  that  a  single  unexceptionable  instance  is  to  be  found,  in  which 
the  harvest  is  a  type  of  judgment.  In  Rev.  xiv.  15,  16.  the  sickle  is  thrust  into 
the  ripe  harvest,  and  the  earth  is  reaped  ;  that  is,  the  elect  are  gathered  from 
the  four  winds  of  heaven  :  the  wheat  of  God  is  gathered  into  his  barn  (Matt, 
xiii.  30.).  After  this  reaping  of  the  earth,  the  sickle  is  applied  to  the  clusters 
of  ihe  vine ;  and  they  are  cast  into  the  great  wine-press  of  the  wrath  of  God 
(Rev.  xiv.  18,  19,  20.)  :  this  is  judgment.  In  Joel  iii.  13.  the  ripe  harvest  is  the 
harvest  of  the  vine,  that  is  the  grapes  fit  for  gathering,  as  appears  by  the  con- 
text. In  Jerem.h.  33.  the  act  of  threshing  the  corn  vpon  thefioor,  not  the  harvest, 
is  the  image  of  judgment.  It  is  true,  the  burning  of  the  tares  in  our  .Saviour's 
parable  (Matt,  xiii.)  is  a  \vor]i.  of  judgment,  and  of  the  time  of  harvest,  previ- 
ous to  the  binding  up  of  the  sheaves.  But  it  is  an  incidental  adjunct  of  the 
business,  not  tlie  harvest  itself  I  believe  the  harvest  is  never  primarily,  and 
in  itself,  an  image  of  vengeance." 

Notwithstanding  the  deservedly  high  authority  of  Bp.  Horsley,  I  still  rest  in 
my  former  opinion,  that  the  apocalyptic  harvest  is  a  harvest  of  judgment,  not  of 
^nercy  (see  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years,  Vol.  II.  p.  312, 313.  2d  edit.  p.  345 — 
348)  ;  in  which  I  ara  supported  by  Bp.  Newton,  Lowman,  Bengelius,  Dod- 


^85 

die  one  hand,  a  sharp  threshing  instrument  having  teeth 
to  thresh  the  mountains  Uke  chaff;  while  he  shall  arise 
and  thresh  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  with  a  horn  of  iron, 

drldge,  and  particularly  Mede,  who  has  elaborately  and  minutely  discussed 
the  point.  He  observes  that  the  idea  of  a  harvest  includes  three  things  ;  the 
reaping  of  the  corn,  the  gathering  of  it  in,  and  the  threshing  of  it :  whence  it  is 
made  a  type  in  Scripture  of  two  direct  opposites  ;  oi' destruction,  when  the  reap' 
ivg  and  the  threshing  are  considered  ;  oi  restitution  and  salvation,  when  the  zn- 
^rtf/itWn^  is  considered  (Mede's  Works  B.  HI.  p.  520).  Bp.  Horsley  separates 
the  threshing  from  the  harvest  in  Jerem.  li.  53  ;  allowing  that  the  threshing  de- 
notes judgment,  but  denying  that  the  harvest  has  ever  such  a  signification.  I 
cannot  think,  that  the  text  in  question  warrants  this  separation.  "  The  daugh- 
ter of  Babylon  is  Uke  a  threshing  floor,  it  is  time  to  thresh  her :  yet  alittle  while, 
and  the  time  of  her  harvest  shall  come."  Here  the  time  of  her  harvest  seems 
manifestly  to  be  used  as  synonymous  with  the  threshing  of  her  :  and,  if  this  be 
the  case,  her  hat  vest  m\xsX.  be  a  harvest  ofiurath.  Or,  if  we  deny  that  they  are 
sjTionymous,  and  separate  them  from  each  other,  shall  be  authorized  by  the 
plain  import  of  the  text  to  say,  that  the  threshing  of  Babylon  denotes  indeed  a 
signal  judginent  about  to  befall  her ;  but  that  her  harvest,  which  in  a  little 
while  is  coming,  means  some  signal  onercy  about  to  be  vouchsafed  to  her?  Does 
not  the  text,  on  the  contrary,  force  us  to  think  with  IMede,  that  the  threshing 
is  considered  as  a  part  of  the  harvest  ,■  and  that  they  both  alike  typify  God's 
vengeance  upon  Babylon  ?  But,  however  this  may  be,  there  is  another  passage, 
in  which  both  the  reaping  and  the  in-gathering  of  the  harvest  are  decidedly  used 
to  symbolize  an  act,  not  oi  mercy,  hntoi judgment.  Speaking  of  the  dispersion 
of  the  tvhole  house  of  Israel,  and  of  the  very  small  remnant  that  should  be  left 
in  the  land,  Isaiah  uses  the  allegory  both  of  the  harvest,  and  of  the  conclusion 
of  the  vintage  and  olive-season.  "  In  that  day  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the 
glory  of  Jacob  shall  be  made  thin,  and  the  fatness  of  his  flesh  shall  wax  lean  : 
and  it  shall  be,  as  when  the  harvest  man  gathereth  the  corn,  and  his  arm 
reapeththe  ears  ;  and  it  shall  be,  as  he  that  gathereth  ears  in  the  valley  of 
Rephaim.  Yet  gleaning  grapes  shall  be  left  in  it,  as  the  shaking  of  an  olive- 
tree,  two  or  three  berries  in  the  top  of  the  uppermost  bough,  four  or  five  in 
the  outmost  branches  of  its  fruitfulness"  (Isaiah  xvii.  4,  5,  6).  In  what  his 
Lordship  says  respecting  the  harvest  mentioned  by  Joel,  I  believe  him  to  be 
perfectly  right  .•  that  harvest  is  plainly  a  harvest  of  grapes,  not  of  corn,-  and 
the  vintage  of  Joel  undoubtedly  relates  to  the  same  period  as  the  vintage  of  the 
Apocalypse  :  they  both  equally  typify  the  overthroiv  of  the  Antichristian  confe- 
deracy. 

Thus,  1  think,  it  appears,  that  a  harvest  symbolizes  the  two  opposites  of 
judginent  and  mercy.  How  we  are  to  understand  it  in  any  particular  passage, 
must  be  determined  by  the  context.  Now  the  context  of  the  apocalyptic  /zar- 
«e.r?  seems  to  me  most  definitely  to  teach  us,  that  a  harvest  of  judgvient  is 
intended.  Throughout  the  whole  book  of  Revelation,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  places  which  sufiiciently  explain  themselves  (such  as  Rev.  xx.  8,  9, 
11 — and  xxi.  1,  24)  the  earth  is  used  as  a  symbol  of  the  Roonan  empire  pagan  and 
papal.  Upon  this  earth  all  the  vials  of  God's  wrath  are  poured  out,  whatever 
subsequent  distinction  may  be  made  in  their  efiusion  (Rev.  xvi.  1. ).  It  is  the 
vine  of  this  earth  that  is  to  be  gathered,  when  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe  :  and  it 
is  the  ripe  harvest  of  this  self -same  earth  that  is  to  be  reaped,  when  the  time  for 
reaping  is  come  (Read  attentively  Rev.  xiv.  14 — 20).  Here  we  may  note,  that 
it  is  not,  as  in  our  Lord's  parable  (Matt.  xiii.  24,  38),  said  to  be  the  harvest  of 
afield,  which  is  afterwards  formally  explained  to  mean  the  world :  but,  as  the 
sickle  is  thrust  into  the  earth  to  gather  the  vine  of  the  earth,  so  is  the  sickle 
likewise  thrust  into  the  earth  to  reap  the  harvest  of  the  earth.  If  then  the  earth 
mean  the  Rom,an  empire  in  the  case  of  the  vintage,  which  cannot  reasonably 
be  doubted,  since  those  that  are  cast  into  the  wine-press  are  the  Roman  beast. 


286 

and  with  hoofs  of  brass*  :  he  shall,  on  the  other  hand, 
become  in  an  eminent  manner  the  seed  of  the  Chiirch, 
and  shall  be  peculiarly  instrumental  in  gathering  the  great 
harvest  of  God's  elect  into  the  granary  of  the  millennial! 
church. 

the  false  prophet,  tandi  the  kings  of  that  same  earth,  9ix\6.  since  (according  to  the 
acknowledged  principles  of  symbolical  imagery)  the  vine  of  the  earth  must 
denote  </ze  corrupt  church  of  the  mystic  Babylon,  whose  abominations, — whose 
ripe  c/Mj/er*  of  iniquity, — will  eventually  occasion  the  ruin  of  its  supporter  the 
secular  beast  (Dan.  vii.  11.)  if,  I  say,  the  earth  mean  the  Roman  empire  in  the 
case  of  the  vintage,  must  we  not  conclude,  from  the  almost  studied  similarity 
of  phraseology  used  by  the  prophet,  that  the  earth  means  likewise  the  Rotnan 
CTnpire  in  the  case  of  the  harvest  ?  And,  if  this  be  allowed,  what  idea  can  we 
annex  to  a  reaping  of  the  harvest  of  the  Roman  empire,  which,  like  the  grapes 
ffthat  soTne  empire,  is  declared  to  be  ripe,  except  an  idea  of  some  tremendous 
judgment  that  should  precede  the  vintage  and  more  or  less  affect  the  whole  em- 
pire I  In  such  an  opinion  also  we  shall  be  the  more  confirmed  by  finding,  that  a 
judgment  about  to  befall  Babylon,  the  constant  apocalyptic  tj'pe  of  the  Roman 
church  and  etnpire,  is  by  Jeremiah  expressly  termed  a  harvest.  This  diffe- 
rence indeed  there  is  between  the  two  prophets,  that  Jeremiah  dwells  upon 
the  third  part  of  the  harvest,  the  threshing ,-  while  St.  John  selects  the  imagery 
of  the  first  part,  the  reaping :  yet  I  cannot  but  think,  that  the  context  of  both 
passages  sufficiently  shews,  that  a  harvest  of  judgment,  not  ofinercy  is  intend- 
ed. The  apocalyptic  harvest,  by  being  confined  to  the  earth  or  the  Roman  em- 
pire, cannot  denote  either  the  general  in-gathering  of  yudah  and  Israel,  or  the 
universal  infiux  of  ali  nations  to  the  Alillennian  church  :  and  since,  like  the 
vintage,  it  is  exclusively  confined  to  the  idolatrous  and  persecuting  Roman 
etnpire,  since  in  both  cases  the  sickle  is  equally  thrust  into  this  eonpire  ,•  I  feel 
myself  compelled  to  conclude,  that,  like  the  vintage,  it  denotes  some  signal 
judgm,ent.  Tlas  judgm,ent  I  have  supposed  to  be  the  first  part  of  the  third '^oe ; 
a -ivoe,  which  must  be  expected  to  mark  a  period  in  history  no  less  striking 
Ihan  the  successive  founding  of  the  Saracenic  and  Turkish  empires ;  a  vjoe, 
which  is  ushered  in  by  an  event  no  less  singular  than  definite,  the  fall  of  a 
tenth  part  of  the  great  Roman  city  or  of  one  of  the  ten  original  Gothico-Roman 
kingdoms  by  an  earthquake.  This  judgment  in  short  I  have  supposed  to  be  the 
horrors  of  the  French  revolution,  commencing  on  the  I2th  of  August  1792,  and 
ushered  in  by  the  fall  of  the  monarchy  both  arbitrary  and  limited  which  at 
that  time  was  the  only  one  that  remained  of  all  the  ten  original  kingdoms  ;  a 
revolution,  which  in  its  consequences,  or  (to  adopt  the  prophetic  phraseology) 
during  tbe  reaping  of  the  harvest  of  the  earth,  has  been  felt  to  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  Roman  etnpire :  and  as  jet  I  have  seen  no  reason  to  alter  my 
opinion. 

To  return  from  this  not  unnecessary  digression  :  the  harvest-voork,  appoint- 
ed for  jfudah,  may  be  either  of  «iercv  or  of ^W^menf,  perhaps  of  both.  At 
least  we  find,  that,  as  Judah  will  probably  be  made  an  instrument  of  turning 
many  to  righteousness,  so  lie  wilUikewise  be  made  a  sharp  threshing  instru- 
ment to  thresh  all  the  enemies  of  God,  His  harvest- work  will  be  double  and 
opposite.  It  will  consist  both  of  an  in-gathering  of  the  good,  and  of  a  thresh- 
ing of  the  wicked  even  with  hoofs  of  brass. 

*  Isaiah  xji.  15— Micah  iv.  13— See  also  Zechpir.  xii,  2—6. 


287 

PROPHECY    XXrX. 

The  successive  restoration  of  Judah  and  Israel. 

Hosea  xi.  8.  How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  O  Ephrami; 
abandon  thee,  O  Israel?  How  shall  I  make  thee  as 
Admah ;  place  thee  m  the  condition  of  Zeboim  ?  My 
heart  is  turned  upon  me ;  my  bowels  yearn  altogether. 
9.  I  will  not  execute  the  fury  of  mine  anger ;  I  will  not 
return  *  to  make  destruction  of  Ephraim.  For  God  I 
am,  and  not  man ;  the  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of  thee, 
although  I  am  no  frequenter  of  cities  f.  10.  They  shall 
walk  after  the  Lord.  Like  a  lion  he  shall  roar  J;  verily  he 
himself  shall  roar ;  and  children  shall  hurry  ^  from  the 

*  I  ivill  not  return.']  "W''hen  I  come  a  second  time,  it  will  not  be  to  de- 
stroy. An  indirect  promise  of  coming  again,  not  for  judgment,  but  for 
mercy."    Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

f  I  atn  no  freque7iter  of  cities.']  "Dwelling  with  thee,  but  in  a  peculiar 
and  extraordinary  manner,  not  after  the  manner  of  men.  I  am  no  frequenter 
of  cities  in  general."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

i  Like  a  Hon  he  shall  roar.]  I  fully  agree  with  Bp.  Horsley,  that  the  pro- 
phet speaks  of  two  distinct  successive  roarings  of  the  Lord  :  and  that,  as  the 
Jirst  roaring  brings  children  from  the  west,  so  the  secotid  brings  them  from 
Egypt  and  Assyria.  But  I  cannot  think,  tliat  the  one  relates  to  the  Jirst  advent 
of  our  Lord  and  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  fAe  of/zer,  contradistinctively 
to  his  second  advent  and  the  conversion  of  the  natural  Israel.  When  Hosea  is 
predicting  that  the  luhole  house  of  Israel  shall  walk  with  the  Lord,  it  seems 
both  unnatural  and  unnecessary  to  suppose  that  he  suddenly  digresses  to  the 
conversionof  the  Gentiles  at  the  frst  advejit.  And,  when  we  find  it  repeatedly 
declared  by  the  prophets,  that  the  house  nf  Israel  shall  be  restored  in  two 
grand  divisions,  first  the  house  of  ^udah  from  the  west,  and  afterwards  the 
house  of  Joseph  from  the  east  and  the  north ;  I  cannot  but  think  it  most  natural, 
and  most  consonant  with  the  tenor  of  the  present  prediction,  to  apply  the 
tKo  roarings  with  their  respective  effects  to  the  twofold  and  successive  restoro' 
tion  of  the  vihole  house  of  Israel. 

§  Children  shall  hurry.]  Bp.  Horsley  argues,  that,  since  the  expression  is 
neither  their  children  nor  my  children,  but  simply  children,  the  natural  Israelis 
thereby  excluded,  and  the  Gentile  converts  at  the  first  advent  are  pointed  out,  as 
those  that  hurried  from  the  west.  This  argument  seems  to  me  to  destroy  it- 
self by  proving  too  much.  Some  children  of  the  same  family,  that  hurry  from 
the  west,  hurry  likewise  from  Egypt  and  Assyria :  for  to  whom  can  the  they, 
which  is  the  subject  to  the  second  verb  shall  hurry,  relate,  except  the  childreii, 
which  is  the  subject  to  the  first  verb  shall  hurry  ?  Children  then  equally  hurry 
from  the  west  at  the  first  roaring,  and  from  Egypt  and  Assyria  at  the  second 
roaring.  But,  if  children  simply  cannot  mean  the  natural  Israel  in  one  case, 
neither  can  they  mean  the  natural  Israel  \n  the  other  case.  His  Lordship  hov^T;;' 
ever  maintains,  that  thev  (i.  e  the  children,  for  to  what  antecedent  can  they  be 
referred  except  the  children  ?)  di>  mean  the  natural  Israel  in  the  second  case  : 
it  will  follow  therefore,  that  children  (the  anijecedent  of  they)  must  mean 
another  branch  of  the  natural  Israel  in  the  first  case.  Or,  ?  converso,  if  children 
iti  the  one  case  do  uQt  mean  part  of  the  natural  Israel ;  then  neither  can  they 


288 

\vtst*.  11.  They  shall  hurry  like  the  sparrow  from  Egypt, 
and  like  the  dove  from  Assyria  t  :  and  I  will  settle  them 
in  their  own  houses,  saith  the  Lord.  12.  Ephraim  hath 
compassed  me  about  with  treacher}^,  and  the  house  of 
Israel  with  deceit.  But  Judah  shall  yet  obtain  dominion  f 
with  God,  and  shall  be  established  with  the  Holy  Ones||. 

COMMENTARY. 

This  prophecy  relates  to  the  restoration  of  the  -whole 
house  of  Israel^  for  both  Judah  and  Ephraim  are  particu- 
larized in  it.  Long  as  the  captivity  of  Judah  has  been, 
longer  yet  as  the  captivity  of  Ephraim  has  been ;  yet 
God  will  never  forget  or  abandon  his  people  Israel.  In 
due  season  they  shall  surely  walk  after  the  Lord,  not- 
withstanding they  now  seem  to  be  forsaken  by  him. 
When  that  season  arrives,  twice  will  he  exalt  his  voice, 
and  roar  aloud.  At  the  first  roaring,  children  shall  huiTy 
from  the  west:  the  converted  Jews  shall  be  rapidly  brought 
back  from  the  western  regions  of  Europe  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  great  maritime  power.  At  the  second 
roaring,  other  children  shall  hurry  like  the  sparrow  from 
Egypt,  and  like  the  dove  from  Assyria :  the  converted 
Israelites  shall  return  from  the  countries  of  their  disper- 
sion, and  particularly  from  the  land  of  Assyria  whither 
they  were  originally  carried,  and  in  the  neighbourhood 

(the  children  J  in  the  other  case  mtSin  part  of  the  natural  Israel.    Mr.  Lowtk 
understands  the  passage  as  1  do. 

*  Sliall  hurry  froin  the  ■-Jiest.']  Isaiah  similarly  predicts  tlie  return  of  yudah. 
"  They  shall  llt't  up  their  voice  ;  they  shall  e.xult  in  the  majesty  of  the  Lord  ; 
they  shall  shout  from  the  west.  W^herefore  glorify  ye  the  Lord  by  Urim,  the 
name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  in  the  isles  of  the  sea."  (Isaiah  xxiv.  14  ,15.) 
And  again  :  "  Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for  me,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish 
lirst,  to  bring  thy  sons  from  far."     Isaiah  Ix  9. 

•}■  They  shall  hurry- froon,  Egypt— and  Assyria.'^  Thus  Isaiah  foretells  the 
restoration  of  those  that  were  lost  in  Assyria  and  were  outcasts  in  the  land 
of  Egypt.  See  Isaiah  xxvii.  12,  13.  and  compare  xi.  15,  l6.---xix.  23,  24,  25. 
and  Zechar.  x.  10,  11      See  Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

\  Obtain  dominion.']  "  A  promissory  allusion  to  a  final  restoration  of  the 
Jewish  monarchy."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

•  (I  Established  luith  the  Holy  Ones."]  "  The  word  established  may  signify  either 
the  constancy  of  Judah' s  fidelity  to  the  Holv  Ones  ;  or  the  firmness  of  the  support 
whicli  he  sliall  receive  from  them.  The  Holy  Ones,  the  Holy  Trinity.  By  tlie 
use  of  this  plural  word  the  prophecy  clearly  points  to  the  conversion  of  the 
yeviish  people  Xo  \h&  C\iv\s\\ax\  faith.  Even  the  Jewish  expositors,  R.  Tan- 
ehum  and  Kimchi,  understand  this  plural  word  in  this  place  as  signifyinj^^ 
Gpd."    Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 


239 

of  which  they  are  now  lost.  Thus,  notwithstanding  their 
former  treachery  and  deceit,  God  will  settle  them  in  their 
own  houses,  and  establish  them  with  the  Holy  Ones. 


PROPHECY    XXX. 

The  restoration  and  conversion  of  Israel — His  rejection  of 
Antichrist. 

Hosea  xiv.  1.  Return,  O  Israel*,  unto  the  Lord  thy 
God,  for  thou  hast  fallen  by  thine  iniquity.  2.  Take 
with  you  words,  and  return  unto  the  Lord.  Say  unto 
him,  Take  away  all  iniquity,  and  accept  good.  So  will 
we  render  thee  bullocks,  our  own  lips  f.  3.  The  Assy- 
rian shall  not  save  us ;  we  will  mount  no  cavalry,  and 
no  more  we  will  sa}'.  Our  gods  are  ye,  to  the  work  of 
our  own  hands :  inasmuch  as  with  thee  the  fatherless 
obtaineth  fond  protection.  4.  I  will  restore  their  conver- 
sion |.  I  will  love  them  gratuitously  ;  for  mine  anger  is 
departed  from  me.  5.  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel; 
he  shall  blossom  as  the  lily,  and  strike  his  roots  like  the 
forest  trees  of  Lebanon.  6.  His  suckers  shall  spread 
farther  and  farther ;  and  he  shall  be  like  the  olive  tree, 
for  his  beauty;  and  a  smell  shall  be  in  him  like  the  smell 
of  Lebanon.  7.  They  shall  return.  Sitting  under  his 
shadow,  they  shall  abound  in  corn.  They  shall  germinate 
like  the  vine,  and  be  famous  as  the  wine  of  Lebanon. 
8.  Ephraim  !   What  have  I  to  do  any  more  with  idols  ||? 

*  Return,  O  Israel.']  "  The  whole  farally  of -Israel,  in  both  its  branches,  is 
addressed."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

•j-  Bullocks,  our  oTjn  lips.']  "  Lips  are  here  put  for  praises  and  thanksgivings 
uttered  by  the  lips.  This  kind  of  metonymy,  which  puts  the  cause  or  instru- 
ment for  the  effect,  is  very  frequent  with  tlie  sacred  writers  By  calling'  vocal 
devotions  bullocks,  the  phraseology  shews,  that  this  form  of  supplication  is 
prepared  for  those  times,  when  animal  sacrifices  will  be  abolished,  and 
prayer  and  thanksgiving-  will  be  the  only  offering."     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

i  Their  conversion.]  "  That  is,  their  converted  race.  I  take  conversion  as  a 
collective  noun  for  converts  ,-  like  captivity,  for  the  captives,  trnd  dispersion,  for 
the  dispersed.  The  converted  nation  God  promises  to  restore  to  his  favour, 
and  to  a  situation  of  prosperity  and  splendour"     Bp.  Horsley  in  loc. 

fl  Ephraim— idols.]  <'  An  exultation  of  Jehovah  over  idols.  Ephraim  / 
Even  he  is  returned  to  me.  I  have  no  more  contest  to  carry  on  with  idols. 
They  are  completely  overthrown.  My  sole  Godhead  is  confessed."  Bp. 
Horsley  in  loc. 

37 


290 

I  have  answered  him.     And  I  will  make  him  flourish 
like  a  green  fir-tree.     From  me  thy  fruit  is  supphed. 

9«  Who  is  wise  *  ?  for  he  will  consider  tliese  things ; 
intelligent  ?  for  he  shall  comprehend  them.  For  straight 
and  even  are  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  the  justified  shall 
proceed  in  them,  but  revolters  shall  stumble  therein  f. 

COMMENTARY. 

Hosea  concludes  his  prophecies  with  declaring  in  the 
strongest  terms,  that  God  will  surely  restore  the  converted 

*  Who  is  •vdse7'\  This  passage  exactly  tallies  with  what  Daniel  says  rela- 
tive to  the  same  awful  period.     See  Dan.  xii.  10. 

f  Revolters  shall  stumble  therein.']  "  To  the  incorrig'ible  enemies  of  God  the 
very  scheme  of  mercy  itself  will  be  a  cause  of  error,  confusion,  and  ruin. 
The  word  o^jrif  D  expresses  a  degree  and  enormity  of  disobedience  far  beyond 
any  thing  contained  in  the  notion  of  transgressors,  prevaricators,  or  any  other 
denomination  of  guilt,  by  which  the  word  Is  rendered  in  our  English  Bible. 
It  denotes  rebels,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word  ;  such  as  rise  in  opposition 
to  the  authority  of  a  sovereign,  because  he  is  by  right  a  sovereign  ;  and  in  a 
religious  sense,  such  as  wilfully,  with  premeditation,  disobey  God  from  ha- 
tred of  his  authority- -jj'j'D  is  a  bold  avowed  rebellion,  or  revolt,  disowning  the 
authority  of  the  sovereign,  and  having  for  its  end  the  overthrow  of  his  sove- 
reignty. But  it  will  be  said  ;  AVlio  ever  was  so  mad,  as  to  avow  or  entertain 
a  design  or  hope  of  overtlirowing  the  sovereignty  of  God  ?  I  say,  Numbers 
in  all  ages  of  the  world.  Atheists,  Deists,  Idolaters,  and  secular  powers  that 
persecute  revealed  religion.  Many  of  these  indeed  retain  the  name  of  a  God, 
or  Gods,  as  signifying,  in  their  conceptions,  an  Animus  onundi,  or  physical 
powers  in  difterent  parts  of  the  material  world.  But  they  all  disown  and 
oppose  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  New  ;  the  God  of  Jews,  and 
of  Christians.  And  they  endeavour  what  they  can  to  overthrow  his  authority, 
by  uniting  their  efibrts  (in  vain,  but  much  in  earnest)  for  the  extirpation  of 
the  Cliristian  religion.  If  those,  who,  in  the  present  day,  are  most  forward, 
and  most  powerful,  in  this  work  of  impiety,  affect  a  p.artiality  for  the  ^evjs  .• 
it  is,  because  they  hope  to  draw  them  in  to  take  a  part  in  tlie  demolition  of 
Christianity  :  and,  when  that  is  effected,  they  expect  to  find  in  Judaism  an 
easy  conquest.  Whetlier  any  part,  or  what  part,  of  the  yews  may  be  drawn 
into  this  snare  of  hell,  we  presume  not  to  predict  We  hope,  that  the  great 
majority  of  the  race  will  have  too  much  discretion  to  be  duped.  This  at  least 
we  know,  that  ultimately  the  whole  race  of  Israel,  of  the  natural  Israel,  tvill 
return  and  seek  Jehovah  their  God,  and  David  their  king.  They  shall  return,  and, 
sittijig  under  his  shadoiv,  they  vill flourish.  The  head  of  the  faction  leagued 
against  us  and  them,  against  our  God  and  theirs,  is  the  devil.  If  I  am  not 
much  mistaken,  he  is  more  than  once  named  in  Scripture  jj8»i3 ;  the  participle 
Benoni  Kal  being  used  as  an  appellative  in  the  singular  number,  to  denote 
The  rebel.  The  apostate.  And  the  same  participle  in  the  plural,  which  is  the 
word  here,  denotes  the  followers  of  that  chief.  Rebels,  Revolters."  Bp. 
Horsley  in  loc. 

Let  the  reader,  keeping-  in  his  mind  this  criticism  of  Bp.  Horsley,  compare 
what  I  say  relative  to  the  revolters  here  spoken  of,  with  the  apocalyptic  account 
of  the  Instigator  of  the  revived  Roman  beast,  the  secret  promoters  of  the  Anti- 
christian  confederacy,  and  the  avowed  object  of  that  confederacy  when  formed  ; 
with  St.  Paul's  description  of  fAf  ^nan  of  sin;  with  Ezekiel's  representation  of 
the  mystic  prince  of  Tyre ;  with  Daniel's  relation  of  the  fate  which  is  about  to 


291 

race  of  Israel,  Ephraim  no  less  than  Judak,  and  bless  them 
in  their  own  land  ^vith  a  wonderful  degree  of  plenty  and 
prosperity.  Since  by  the  mention  of  Ephraim  it  is  evi- 
dent that  this  prediction  yet  remains  to  be  accomplished, 
for  Ephraim  has  never  yet  been  restored,  we  must  neces- 
sarily conclude,  that  the  Assyrian,  here  mentioned,  is  the 
antitypical  Assyrian,  or  Antichrist  now  become  the  last  head 
of  the  mystic  Babylon.  Here  then  we  have  an  oblique, 
but  sufficiently  plain,  allusion  to  the  attempt  which  cer- 
tain imconverted  Jews  will  make  to  effect  their  return  by 
the  assistance  of  the  Antichristian  conjcderacy ,  and  to  their 
subsequent  penitence  and  conversion. 

In  the  last  verse  Hosea  observes,  that,  plain  as  the  ways 
of  the  Lord  Ure,  revolters  will  stumble  in  them,  but  that 
the  justified  shall  proceed  in  them.  By  these  revolters  I 
understand  those  ijicorrigible  enemies  of  God,  who,  falling 
from  the  apostasy  of  PojDery  to  the  yet  blacker  apostasy 
of  Infidelity,  and  afterwards  for  mere  ambitiously  politi- 
cal purposes  restoring  the  form  of  a  corrupt  religion  which 
in  their  hearts  they  disbelieve  *,  shall  at  length  league 
themselves  in  a  misnamed  religious  war  with  the  Romish 

befall  the  feet  of  the  image  and  the  Rovian  beast  with  his  littlt  horn,  and  with 
his  strongly  drawn  character  of  the  vjifil  king  ;  and  lastly  with  St.  John's 
concise,  though  pointed,  definition  of  A7itichrist.  He  will  then,  1  think,  have 
but  little  reason  to  doubt,  who  are  intended  by  these  notorious  revolters  ut  the 
era  of  the  restoration  of  the  jfews.  See  Rev.  xii.  3,  9,  17.— xili.  1,  2,  4,  6.-  — 
xvi.  13—16.  xix.  11--.21.— 2  Thessal.  ii.  3  --12.— Ezek.  xxviii.  2— 10.— Dan. 
ii.  34,  35,  44,  45.— vii.  8—11,  20— 27.--xl.  36— 45.— xii.  1,  7,  lO.--and  1  John 
ii.  22. 

*  Mr.  Yorke  finishes  his  description  of  the  farcial  celebration  of  the  re-estab' 
lishmcnt  of  Popery  by  General  Buonaparte,  in  the  following- remarkable  words. 
"  These  are  the  principal  incidents  which  occured  at  Notre  Dame.  I  leave 
J10U  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the  emotions  of  those  present,  whether  they  be  con- 
sidered as  Christians  or  not.  The  far  greater  part  of  tiie  Senate,  the  Legis- 
lative Body,  the  Tribunate,  and  the  Generals,  being  avowed  atheists,  and 
notorious  for  the  murders,  thefts,  and  atrocities,  which  they  had  perpetrated  ; 
with  their  Chief  Magistrate,  wliohad  worshipped  at  the  altar  of  atheism  some 
years  before  in  Paris,  who  afterwards  knelt  down  before  the  Poj^e  at  Rome, 
and  embraced  the  religion  of  Mohammed  in  Africa  ;  assembled  together  in 
one  place  to  adore  a  god  in  whom  they  had  no  faith,  and  to  profess  a  religion 
which  they  despised,  merely  that  they  might  be  enabled  to  preserve  their 
usurped  authority  over  the  people,  and  to  retain  their  places  ;  is  an  occur- 
rence in  the  history  of  pious  fraud,  not  to  be  met  with  since  the  days  of  Judas 
Iscariot.  I  may  safely  venture  to  affirm,  that,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Bishops  (if  they  may  be  excepted),  there  was  not  a  single  jierson  in  the  cathe- 
dral, who  quitted  this  religious  mockery  with  a  sentiment  of  piety  excited  in 
his  breast,  nor  one,  who  did  not  perfectly  see  through  the  whole  object  of  the 
ceremony."    Letters  from  France  in  1802.  Vol.  I.  p.  269,  2/0, 


292 


man  of  sin,  and  attain  the  summit  of  deliberate  impiety  by 
openly  opposing  the  counsels  of  the  Most  High  respect- 
ing his  ancient  people  the  Jews. 


PROPHECY  XXXI. 

Irruption  of  Antichrist  into  Palestine — His  destruction  there — 
General  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit — A  description  of  the  over- 
throw of  the  confederated  nations  at  the  period  of  the  restoration 
of  Judah. 

Joel  i.  1.  The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  unto  Joel, 
the  son  of  Pethuel.  2.  Hear  this,  ye  old  men,  and  give 
ear,  all  ve  inhabitants  of  the  land.  Hath  this  been  in 
your  days,  or  even  in  the  days  of  your  fathers  ?  3.  Tell 
ye  your  children  of  it,  and  let  your  children  tell  their 
children,  and  their  children  another  generation.  4.  That, 
which  the  palmer- worm  hath  left,  hath  the  locust  eaten; 
and  that,  which  the  locust  hath  left,  hath  the  canker-worm 
eaten  ;  and  that,  which  the  canker-worm  hath  left,  hath 
the  caterpillar  eaten — 6.  For  a  nation  is  come  up  upon 
my  land,  strong,  and  without  number,  whose  teeth  are 
the  teeth  of  a  lion,  and  he  hath  the  cheek-teeth  of  a 
great  lion.  7.  He  hath  laid  my  vine  waste,  and  barked 
my  fig-tree :  he  hath  made  it  clean  bare,  and  cast  it 
away  ;  the  branches  thereof  are  made  white — 

14.  Sanctify  ye  a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly ;  gather 
the  elders,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord  3^our  God,  and  cry  unto  the  Lord. 
15.  Alas  for  the  day  !  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand, 
and  as  a  destruction  from  the  Almighty  shall  it  come — 

ii.  1.  Blow  ye  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  and  sound  an 
alarm  in  my  holy  mountain  :  let  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land  tremble  :  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  for  it 
is  nigh  at  hand  ;  2.  A  day  of  darkness  and  of  gloominess, 
a  day  of  clouds  and  of  thick  darkness,  as  the  morning 
spread  upon  the  mountains :  a  great  people  and  a  strong : 
there  hath  not  been  ever  the  like,  neither  shall  be  an}- 
more  after  it,  even  to  the  years  of  many  generations. 
3.  A  fire  devoureth  before  them  ;  and  behind  them  a 


293 

flame  burneth :  the  land  is  as  the  garden  of  Eden  before 
them,  and  behind  tliem  a  desolate  wilderness;  yea,  and 
nothing  shall  escape  them.  4.  The  appearance  of  them 
is  as  the  appearance  of  horses  ;  and  as  horsemen,  so  shall 
they  run.  5.  Like  the  noise  of  the  chariots  on  the  tops 
of  mountains  shall  they  leap,  like  the  noise  of  a  flame  of 
fire  that  devoureth  the  stubble,  as  a  strong  people  set  in 
battle  array.  6.  Before  their  face  the  people  shall  be 
much  pained  :  all  faces  shall  gather  blackness.  7.  They 
shall  run  like  mighty  men,  they  shall  climb  the  wall  like 
men  of  war;  and  they  shall  march  every  one  on  his  w^ays, 
and  they  shall  not  break  their  ranks.  8.  Neither  shall 
one  thrust  another,  they  shall  walk  every  one  in  his  path : 
and,  when  they  fall  upon  the  sword,  they  shall  not  be 
wounded.  9.  They  shall  run  to  and  fro  in  the  city; 
they  shall  run  to  and  fro  upon  the  wall ;  they  shall  climb 
up  upon  the  houses  ;  they  shall  enter  m  at  the  windows 
like  a  thief.  10.  The  earth  shall  quake  before  them ;  the 
heavens  shall  tremble  :  the  sun  and  the  moon  shall  be 
dark;  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining.  11.  And 
the  Lord  shall  utter  his  voice  before  his  army  :  for  his 
camp  is  very  great ;  for  the  strong  One  executeth  his 
word :  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  great  and  very  terrible ; 
and  who  can  abide  it? 

12.  Therefore  also  now  saith  the  Lord,  Turn  ye  even 
to  me  with  all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and  with 
weeping,  and  with  mourning — 17.  I^et  the  priests,  the 
ministers  of  the  Lord,  weep  between  the  porch  and  the 
altar,  and  let  them  say.  Spare  thy  people,  O  Lord,  and 
give  not  thine  heritage  to  reproach,  that  the  heathen 
should  rule  over  them :  wherefore  should  they  say  among 
the  people.  Where  is  their  God  ? 

18.  Then  will  the  Lord  be  jealous  for  his  land,  and 
pity  his  people.  19.  Yea,  the  Lord  will  answer,  and  say 
unto  his  people.  Behold,  I  will  send  you  corn,  and  wine, 
and  oil,  and  ye  shall  be  satisfied  therewith  :  and  I  will  no 
more  make  you  a  reproach  among  the  heathen.  20.  But 
I  will  remove  far  off"  from  you  the  northern  one,  and  will 
drive  him  into  a  land  made  by  his  ravages  barren  and 
desolate,  with  his  face  toward  the  east- sea,  and  his 
hinder  part  toward  the  utmost  sea :  and  his  stink  shall 


294 

come  up,  and  his  ill  savour  shall  come  up,  because  he 
hath  done  great  things.  21.  Fear  not,  O  land,  be  glad, 
and  rejoice  ;  for  the  Lord  will  do  great  things — 23.  Be 
glad  then,  ye  children  of  Zion,  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord 
your  God :  for  he  will  give  you  the  former  rain  mode- 
rately, and  he  will  cause  to  come  down  for  you  the  rain, 
the  former  rain,  and  the  latter  rain  in  the  first  month. 
24.  And  the  floors  shall  be  full  of  wheat,  and  the  fats 
shall  overflow  with  wine  and  oil.  25.  And  I  will  restore 
to  you  the  years  that  the  locust  hath  eaten,  the  canker- 
worm,  and  the  caterpiller,  and  the  palmer- wonn,  my 
great  ai*my,  which  I  sent  among  you.  26.  And  ye  shall 
eat  in  plenty,  and  be  satisfied,  and  praise  the  name  of  the 
Lord  your  God,  that  hath  dealt  wonderously  with  you  : 
and  my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed.  27.  And  ye  shall 
know,  that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  and  that  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God,  and  none  else :  and  my  people  shall  never 
be  ashamed. 

28.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will 
pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all  flesh,  and  your  sons  and  your 
daughters  shall  prophes}%  your  old  men  shall  dream 
dreams,  your  young  men  shall  see  visions  :  29.  And  also 
upon  the  servants  and  upon  the  hand  maids  in  those  days 
will  I  pour  out  my  spirit. 

30.  And  I  will  shew  w'onders  in  the  heavens  and  in 
the  earth,  blood  and  fire  and  pillars  cf  smoke.  31.  The 
sun  shall  be  turned  into  dai'kness,  and  the  moon  into 
blood,  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord 
come.  32.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that,  whoever 
shall  call  on  the  the  name  of  the  Lord,  shall  be  delivered: 
for  in  mount  Zion  and  in  Jerusalem  shall  be  deliverance, 
as  the  Lord  hath  said,  and  in  the  remnant  whom  the 
Lord  will  call. 

iii.  1.*  For  behold,  in  those  days  and  in  that  time, 
^vhen  I  shall  bring  agam  the  captivity  f  of  Judah  and 

*  chap.  iii.  1.]  "  Tlie  following  prophecy  relates  to  the  latter  times  of  the 
world :  when,  upon  their  conversion,  God  shall  deliver  theyeus  from  their  op- 
pressors, and  restore  them  to  their  own  land.  The  prophet  likewise  foretells 
the  destruction  of  their  enemies  and  other  unbelievers  in  some  decisive  battle, 
such  as  tliat  mentioned  Rev.  xvi.  14,  and  the  glorious  state  of  the  Church  that 
should  follow."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  The  captivity.']  A  noun  of  number,  as  Cbandkr  j'Ightly  remarks,  denot- 
ing ttiose  Tcko  ivere  carried  a%va_y  captii-^^ 


295 

Jerusalem  ^,  2.  I  will  also  gather  all  the  nations,  and  will 
bring  them  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Lord's  judgment  f, 
and  will  plead  with  them  there  for  my  people  and  for  my 
heritage  Israel,  whom  they  have  scattered  among  the 
nations,  and  they  have  divided  my  land.  3.  And  they 
have  cast  lots  for  my  people  ;  and  have  given  a  boy  for 
an  harlot,  and  sold  a  girl  for  wine,  that  they  might  drink. 
4.  Yea,  and  what  have  ye  to  do  with  me,  O  Tyre  and 
Zidon,  and  all  the  coasts  of  Palestine  ?  will  ye  render  me 
a  swift  recompense  ?  and,  if  ye  recompense  me,  swiftly 
and  speedily  will  I  return  your  recompense  upon  your 
own  head  ;  5.  Because  ye  have  taken  my  silver  and  my 
gold,  and  have  carried  into  your  temples  my  goodly 
pleasant  things  :  6,  The  children  also  of  Judah  and  the 
children  of  Jerusalem  have  ye  sold  unto  the  lonim,  that 
ye  might  remove  them  far  from  their  border.  7.  Behold, 
I  will  raise  them  out  of  the  place  v/hither  ye  have  sold 
them,  and  will  return  your  recompense  upon  your  own 
head.  8.  And  I  will  sell  your  sons  and  your  daughters 
into  the  hand  of  the  children  of  Judah ;  and  they  shall 
sell  them  to  the  Sabeans,  to  a  people  far  off:  for  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  it. 

9.  Proclaim  ye  this  among  the  nations  j  :  sanctify  war, 
wake  up  the  mighty  men,  let  all  the  men  of  Avar  draw 
near,  let  them  come  up.  10.  Beat  your  plow-shares  into 
swords,  and  your  pruning-hooks  into  spears :  let  the 
weak  say,  I  am  strong.  11.  Assemble  yourselves  and 
come,  all  ye  nations ;  and '  gather  yourselves  together 
round  about :  thither  cause  thy  mighty  ones  to  come 
down,  O  Lord.     12.  Let  the  nations  be  roused,  and 

*  The  captivity  of  yiidah  and  j^erusalevi.']  "This  is  to  be  understood  of 
that  restoration  of  tl>e  Jewish  nation  and  their  capital  city,  whicli  shall  be 
brought  to  pass  in  the  latter  times  of  the  world,  according'  to  the  predictions 
ofthe  prophets."     iMr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

■j"  /  wiil  also  gather  all  the  nations,  and  will  bring  them  dawn  into  the  valley  of 
the  Lord's  judgment.'}  "The  propliets  speak  of  a  general  discomfiture  of 
God's  enemies  in  some  decisive  battle  before  the  general  judgment— Such 
probably  is  the  battle  oi  Armageddon,  spoken  of  Rev.  xvi.  14,  16.  The  place 
of  this  remarkable  action  is  here  called  the  valley  of  jfehoshaphat,  as  if  the 
prophet  had  said,  the  place  tvhere  the  Lord  will  execute  judgment,  for  so  the 
word  yehoshaphat  signifies  in  the  original."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

i  Proclaim,  ye  this  among  the  nations.']  "  The  prophet  returns  to  what  he 
had  mentioned  (ver.  '2.)  concerning  the  heathen  or  unbelieving  world  gather- 
ing themselves  either  to  oppose  the  ^ews  in  their  return  homeward,  or  some 
other  way  to  hinder  the  growth  of  Christ's  kingdom."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


296 

come  up  to  the  valley  of  the  Lord's  judgment :  for  thefe 
will  I  the  Lord  sit  to  judge  all  the  nations  round  about. 
13.  Put  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is  ripe :  come,  get 
ye  down,  for  the  press  is  full,  the  fats  overflow;  for  their 
wickedness  is  great.  14,  Multitudes,  multitudes,  in  the 
valley  of  cutting  off:  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in 
the  valley  of  cutting  off.  15.  The  sun  and  the  moon  shall 
be  darkened,  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining. 
16.  The  Lord  also  shall  roar  out  of  Zion,  and  utter  his 
voice  from  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
shall  shake  :  but  the  Lord  will  be  the  hope  of  his  people, 
and  the  strength  of  the  children  of  Israel.  17.  So  shall 
ye  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God  dwelling  in  Zion 
my  holy  mountain  :  then  shall  Jerusalem  be  holy  *,  and 
there  shall  no  strangers  pass  through  her  any  more  f* 
18.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  moun- 
tains shall  drop  down  new  wine,  and  the  hills  shall  flow 
with  milk  J,  and  all  the  rivers  of  Judah  shall  flow  with 
waters,  and  a  fountain  \  shall  come  forth  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  and  shall  water  the  valley  of  Shittim.  19.  Egypt 
shall  be  a  desolation,  and  Edom  ||  shall  be  a  desolate 
wilderness,  for  the  violence  against  the  children  of  Ju- 
dah, because  they  have  shed  innocent  blood  in  their  land. 
20.  But  Judah  shall  dwell  for  ever,  and  Jerusalem  from 
generation  to  generation.  21.  For  shall  I  declare  inno- 
cent their  blood  ?  I  will  not  declare  it  innocent.  Even 
the  Lord  dwelleth  in  Zion. 

COMjNTEXTARY. 

In  this  prediction  Joel  gives  us  a  full  account  of  what 
shall  take  place  in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord^  and  in  the 
period  which  ushers  in  that  great  day.     He  beholds  the 

*  Then  shall  yerusalem  be  holy.']  "  This  character— may  be  understood  of 
the  earthly  Jerusalem,  iis  the  metropolis  of  tlie  converted  ^ews  As  the  inha- 
bitants themselves  shall  be  holy,  so  the  city  shall  be  called  the  holy  city,  as  ia 
former  times  it  was."     Mr.  Lowth  in  Inc. 

\  There  shall  no  strai2gers  pass  through  her  any  Trior  e.]  "It  shall  no  more 
be  subject  to  be  polluted  or  oppressed  by  unbelievers."  Mr  Lowth  in  loc. 
Comp.'ii-e  Nahum  i.  15.  and  Luke  xxi.  24 

t  The  mountains  shall  drop  down  new  Kvine,  and  the  hills  shall  floiu  iDith  milk.'] 
"  In  the  Millennial  state  theie  sliall  be  plenty  of  all  things."  M:-  Lowth  in  loc. 

§  A  fountain.']     Compare  Zecliav.  .\.iii.  1.  and  see  Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

[i Eg,pt—Edo7}i.]  "These  two  nations  are  taken  in  a genersU  sense  for 
the  enemies  of  God's  people ."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


297 

armies  of  Antichrist,  numerous  and  rapacious  as  locusts 
and.  caterpillers,  spreading  themselves  over  the  whole 
land  of  Palestine,  and  devouring  all  its  produce.  He 
beholds  them  effecting  wonderful  revolutions  in  the  poli- 
tical heavens,  and  marvellously  succeeding  in  all  their 
enterprizes.  And  he  solemnly  calls  upon  the  house  of 
Jiidah,  now  wholly  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ  and 
occupying  their  ancient  city  Jerusalem,  to  fast  and  pray 
that  they  may  be  delivered  from  the  hand  of  their  ene- 
mies. Their  petition  will  eventually  be  successful ; 
though,  as  we  learn  from  Daniel  and  Zechariah,  Anti- 
christ will  first  be  permitted  to  make  himself  master  of 
Jerusalem.  In  due  time,  the  Lord  will  hear  the  cry  of  his 
people,  and  will  no  longer  suffer  them  to  be  a  reproach 
and  a  proverb  among  the  nations.  He  Vv^U  remove  far 
from  them  the  northern  tyrant,  that  fierce  leader  of  the 
great  Roman  confederacy ;  who,  prevented  by  the  decid- 
ed naval  superiority  of  the  faithful  maritime  power  from 
attempting  an  expedition  by  sea,  will  in^'ade  Palestine 
by  land,  and  will  therefore  necessarily  enter  it  from  the 
north  :  and  he  will  drive  him  into  the  land  which  his 
own  merciless  extortions  have  made  desolate,  and  will 
there  destroy  him  between  the  two  seas  of  Judea,  the 
Dead  sea  on  the  east,  and  the  MediteiTanean  sea  on  the 
west.  After  the  destruction  of  Antichrist  and  his  rebel- 
lious host,  the  land  shall  again  bring  fordi  her  increase 
with  ten-fold  fertility  :  and  God  will  abundantly  restore 
to  his  people  the  produce  of  those  years,  which  that  great 
army  *  of  symbolical  locusts  and  caterpillers  had  devour- 
ed.    In  addition  to  the  blessings  of  temporal  prosperity, 

*  We  are  net  to  suppose,  that,  because  God  styles  the  symbolical  locust.<^ 
and  their  fellows  his  great  army,  tliey  are  therefore  his  favoured  and  choscu 
people.  The  expression  is  only  used  to  intimate,  that  they  are  a  scourge  in 
his  hand,  well  adapted  to  punish  the  wickedness  of  surrounding' papal  nations, 
and  to  discipline  with  wholesome  though  severe  chastisement  his  clinrch 
both  protestant  and  Judaical.  Precisely  in  the  same  manner  God  calls  Nebu- 
chadnezzar kis  servant  (Jerem.  xliii.  10.),  because  he  was  the  instrument, 
however  unconscious  of  it,  and  however  bent  only  upon  executing  bis  own 
schemes  of  aggrandisement,  of  accomph.shing  the  divine  purposes.  The  idea 
in  fact  is  so  obvious,  that  Attila  king  of  the  Huns  actually  styled  himself  tfie 
scourge  of  God;  and  boasted  that  his  commission,  as  the  executioner  of  the 
just  anger  of  the  Almighty,  was  to  fill  the  earth  with  all  kind  of  evils.  There 
is  however  a  peculiar  propriety  in  denominating  the  symbolical  locusts  G'ot/V 
army,  because,  as  Bochart  observes,  the  Arabs  were  wont  to  distinguish 
natural  locusts  by  that  very  title. 

38 


298 

lie  will  bestow  upon  them  the  yet  greater  blessings  of 
pure  religion.  He  will  pour  out,  in  a  manner  unknown 
in  former  ages,  his  Holy  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  ;  insomuch 
that  the  day  of  Pentecost  itself  shall  be  only  a  type  of  this 
yet  greater  and  more  extensive  efiiision.  Nevertheless, 
before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  shall  come, 
the  world  shall  be  convulsed  with  unexampled  political 
changes  and  revolutions.  But,  wonderful  as  the  success 
of  Antichrist  shall  be  during  his  permitted  hour  *,  the 
believer  will  only  infer  from  these  predicted  signs  that 
his  redemption  draweth  near.  Whosoever  shall  call  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  surely  be  delivered ;  for  he 
will  save  both  the  rem.nant  of  his  people  Israel^  and  his 
spiritually  wise  children  of  the  uncircumcision. 

The  prophet  now  proceeds  to  give  a  more  full  account 
of  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord.  He  declares, 
that,  when  God  shall  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Judah 
and  Jerusalem^  he  will  likewise  gather  all  the  nations  into 
the  valley  of  his  judgment,  and  will  plead  with  them  oi» 
account  of  the  unjust  violence  -with  which  they  have 
scattered  Israel.  I'hese  nations,  as  we  are  taught  by 
Daniel  and  St.  John,  are  those  which  will  compose  the 
great  AnticJmstian  lioman  confederacy.  Joel,  like  Eze- 
kiel,  typically  terms  one  branch  of  the  confederacy  Tyre 
and  Zidon  -f.  He  also,  like  St.  John,  terms  it  -Egypt ;  and, 
like  many  of  the  ancient  prophets,  he  denominates  the 
whole  confederacy  Edom  %.    With  an  awful  and  sublime 

*  ♦'  He  shall  prosper,"  says  the  prophet  Daniel,  "  till  the  indig-nation  be 
accomplished."     D:in.  xi.  36. 

f  Chandler,  agreeablj'  to  his  scheme,  understands  the  literal  Tyre  and  Zidotiy 
and  supposes  that  they  mig-hthave  boiig'l>tsomeof  the  Jewish  prisoners  from 
the  Edoniites.  But,  if  the  propliecy  relate  to  tlie  final  restoration  ofjudah,  as 
I  tliink  it  must,  Tyre  and  Zidon  will  mean  the  corrupt  church  of  Rone,  as  iiv 
Ezek.  xxvii.  and  xxviii. 

^  Egypt  and  Edam  are  literally  understood  by  Chandler,  though  he  acknow- 
ledges tliat  it  is  impossible  from  history  to  fix  the  particular  event  by  which 
the  prophecy  was  accomplished.  Kimchi  comes  much  neai-er  the  truth,  and 
speaks  a  language  much  more  accordant  with  many  other  ancient  predictions, 
in  supposing  that  Egypt  means  the  Mohaonviedans,  and  Edovi  the  Romans,  il 
am  rather  inclined  however  to  think,  that  both  Egypt  and  Edovi  equally 
typify  the  Antichristian  confederacy  of  the  Roman  beast  and  his  vassals.  Egypt 
is  used  by  St.  John  as  a  type  of  the  Rooiian  em-pire  (Rev.  xi.  8.)  along  with 
Sodom;  whence  it  is  not  unnatural  to  conclude,  that  it  here  likewise  along 
\Vith  Edom  means  the  same.  As  frtr  the  Mohammedans,  although  their  super- 
stition will  be  broken  without  hand  at  this  period  (Dan.  viii.  25.),  I  cannot 
find  that  we  have  any  warrant  for  supposing'  that  they  will  nationally  be 


299 

inversion  of  a  prediction  of  Isaiah,  he  calls  upon  the 
nations,  which  arrange  themselves  under  the  banners  of 
Antichrist,  to  beat  their  plough-shares  into  swords,  and 
their  pruning-hooks  into  spears.  He  calls  upon  them  to 
wake  up  the  mighty  men,  and  to  sanctify  wiir  ^" ;  to  pro- 
claim a  miscalled  holy  crusade  against  those,  whom  the 
injidel  and  papal  tyrants  have  devoted  with  an  anathema 
to  utter  destruction :  and  he  declares,  that  in  such  a 
cause  even  the  weak  shall  think  themselves  strong.  Yet, 
when  the  nations  are  roused,  when  they  have  assembled 
themselves  together  in  the  valley  of  judgment,  in  the 
valley  of  the  cursing  of  Megiddo;  then  will  the  Lord  sit 
as  a  judge  in  the  day  of  his  great  controversy  with  thei 
Gentiles.  The  harvest  of  tlie  rank  vine  of  the  Roman 
earth  is  now  fully  ripe:  and  the  Almighty  ^^''ord  of  God 
begins  to  tread  the  winepress  of  Bozrah^  and  to  sprinkle 
his  garments  with  the  blood  of  Edom-\.  The  sun  and  the 
moon  of  the  Latin  firmament  shall  then  be  darkened  |, 
and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining.  The  long- 
lived  Roman  beast  shall  be  slain,   and  his  false  prophet 

eng-a^edln  the  last  war  of  f/ie  beast.  One  great  branch  of  them,  Turhoy,  wilt 
be  destroyed  previoiis  to  that  era;  and  tlie  other  branch,  Persia,  is  situated 
without  the  limits  of  tlie  Roman  empire.  1  will  not  however  positively  deny, 
that  the  Mohammedans  may  be  intended  by  Egypt.  They  certainly  answer, 
no  less  than  tiie  Papists,  to  the  proplietic  description  of  committing  violence 
ag-ainst  the  children  of  fudah,  and  shedding- innocent  blood  ;  innocent  at  least, 
so  far  as  they  were  concerned.  Gibbon,  thoug'h  by  no  m.eans  unfriendly  to 
Mohammed,  states,  that  that  Impostor  "commanded  or  approved  tlie  assas- 
sination of  the  Jews  and  idolaters,  who  had  escaped  from  the  field  of  battle." 

*  The  sanctification  of  this  war,  and  t!ie  destroying-  anathema,  with  whicll 
Daniel's  ivi/ful  king  goes  out  to  his  work  of  devastation,  equally,  I  think, 
relate  to  the  apocalyptic  junction  of  the  false  prophet  ivith  the  Haitian  icast  under 
his  last  head  and  the  corfederated  kings  of  the  Latin  earth.  \Ve  seem  to  gather 
from  these  parallel  passages,  that  the  last  war  will  be  undertaken  by  the 
Antichristian  faction  as  a  sort  of  crusade  or  holy  war. 

f  The  vintage,  here  spoken  of,  is  the  great  vintage  of  Armageddon  under  the 
last  vial.  Compare  Isaiah  Ixiii.  1—6.  and  Rev.  xiv.  17—20.  xix.  15.  This 
studied  uniformity  of  metaphor,  for  I  can  consider  it  in  no  other  light,  affords 
an  argument  to  prove,  that  we  ouglit  to  refer  the  prophecy  of  Joel  to  the 
second  advent,  and  not  to  tl^e  period  which  Chandler  imagines. 

+  I  understand  by  this  imagery  the  final  oierthroiv  of  Antichrist.  It  may 
perhaps  be  said,  that,  while  I  shortly  after  object  to  Chandler  because  he 
affixes  such  various  meanings  to  the  phrase  of  the  great  day  of  the  Lord  as 
used  by  Joel,  I  myself  apply  differently  the  signs  in  the  political  heavens  as 
mentioned  in  this  passage  and  in  the  two  preceding  passages.  My  answer, 
is,  that  I  am  expressly  warranted  by  the  prophet  himself  in  making  such  a 
distinction.  The  signs  in  the  heavens,  predicted  in  Joel  ii.  10  and  .'lO,  31,  are 
occasioned  Zy  the  locust-army  and /irecer/e  the  great  day  of  the  Lord:  whereas 
*hosc,  predicted  iji  Joeliii.  l-'>,  are,  /;jthe  dayof  tl:e  T,ord;  and  the  total  over- 


300 

shall  be  brought  to  utter  destruction.  For  the  Lord  shall 
roar  out  of  Zion,  and  shall  be  the  hope  of  his  people 
Israel.  Jerusalem  shall  be  holy,  and  shall  no  more  be 
trampled  under  foot  by  strangers :  the  mountains  shall 
di'op  down  with  new  wine :  and  the  waters  of  life,  the 
healing  streams  of  the  Gospel,  shall  come  forth  out  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord. 

The  learned  Chandler  *  seems  to  me  very  greatly  to 
have  mistaken  the  drift  of  this  prophecy  of  Joel.  The 
nation  spoken  of  in  the  firsts  and  afterwards  described  at 
large  in  the  second  chapter^  is  undoubtedly  a  nation  of 
locusts  :  no  one,  I  apprehend,  will  be  inclined  to  deny  so 
plain  a  matter.  But  the  question  is,  wdiether  they  be 
nafiwal^  or  symbolical^  locusts.  Chandler  resolutely  main- 
tains  the  first  of  these  positions,  and  labours  fruitlessly 
(I  think)  to  remove  the  difficulties  with  which  it  is  clog- 
ged. If  ever  Judea,  in  the  da}s  of  her  monarchy,  had 
been  visited  by  such  a  plague  of  locusts  as  that  described 
by  the  prophet,  a  plague  in  no  respects  inferior  to  that 
with  which  Egypt  was  once  visited,  we  might  reasona- 
bly expect  to  find  it  mentioned  in  the  historical  part  of 
Scripture.  But  nothing,  that  bears  any  resemblance  to 
it,  can  there  be  discovered.  Chandler  indeed  quotes  R. 
Kimchi,  as  producing  a  Jewish  tradition,  that  during  four 
out  of  the  seven  years  of  famine  predicted  by  Elisha  f 
there  were  four  species  of  locusts,  and  that  during  the 
other  three  there  was  a  great  want  of  rain.  The  sacred 
text  itself  however  gives  not  the  least  countenance  to 
this  mere  Rabbinical  gloss  ;  and,  even  if  it  did.  Chand- 
ler would  have  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  avail  himself  of 
it  by  fixing  the  age  of  Joel  in  the  reign  of  Ahaz,  whereas 
Elisha's  famine  occurred  in  the  days  of  Jehoram  the  son 
of  Ahab  considerably  more  than  a  century  earlier.     Ac- 

thro'i:)  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy,  or  the  utter  destruction  of  the  jRcman 
beast  in  his  last  form  (Dan.  vii.  11.),  is  the  subject  of"  them.  Christ  predicts 
in  a  similar  manner,  that  his  advent  should  be  preceded,  and  as  it  were 
ushered  in,  by  signs  in  the  sun  and  moon  (See  Matt.  xxiv.  29,  30,  33.  Mark 
siii.  24,  25,  26,  29.  and  Luke  xxi.  25,  26,  27,  28,  31.)  :  unless  indeed  we  are 
bound  to  refer  these  different  transcripts  of  the  saine  prophecy  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  by  the  Homans  exclusively.  I  iiave  never  yet  met  witli  aa 
exposition  of  our  Lord's  propliecy,  that  g-ave  me  entire  satisfaction. 

*  To  save  the  trouble  of  entlless  particular  references,  I  beg'  to  refer  the 
reader  in  general  to  Chandler's  Comment,  on  j^oel,  and  the  annexed  Disser- 
tation. -J-  2  King-s  viii.  1. 


301 

cordingly  he  does  not  attempt  to  produce  any  account  of 
these  locusts  from  the  scriptural  history  *. 

But  this  difficulty  is  by  no  means  the  only  one.     Joel 
declares,  that  the  army  of  locusts  shall  cause  the  heavens 
to  quake,  and  the  earth  to  tremble  ;  that  the  sun  and  the 
moon  shall  be  dark  before  them  ;  and  that  the  stars  shall 
withdraw  their  shining- f.     These  magnificent  images,  as 
it  is  well  known,  denote  in  the  prophetic  language  great 
7vars  and  revolutions,  wherein  established  governments 
are  either  overthrown,  or  at  least  shaken  to  their  very 
centre.     Some  great  political  commotion  therefore  must 
have  taken  place  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  of  these 
locusts.     Now,  although  a  brief  history  might  be  silent 
respecting  a  mere  plague  of  locusts ;  yet,  if  that  plague 
occasioned  a  revolution  in  the  government,  it  is  incre- 
dible that  the  very  shortest  history  should  then  have  pre- 
served a  profound  silence.     Where  then  do  we  find  any 
such  circumstance  mentioned  in  the  sacred  history?  To 
get  quit  of  this  difficulty  Chandler  maintains,  that  the  ex- 
pressions in  question  are  to  be  understood  literally.     He 
tells  us,  that  the  earth  really  appears  to  tremble  through 
the  continual  motion  of  a  swarm  of  locusts  ;  or  at  least 
that  it  may  be  fairly  said  to  tremble  through  the  excessive 
fear  of  its  inhabitants  :  that  the  heavens  shake,  because 
the  locusts  obscure  the  very  light  of  them :  that  the  sun 
is  turned  into  darkness,  becaXise  thev  ordinarilv  flv  in  the 
day  time,  and  that  in  such  numbers  as  to  darken  even 
the  sun  himself:  and  that  the  moon  and  the  stars  with- 
draw their  shining,  because  they  may  be  supposed  in 
warm  eastern  countries  sometimes  to  shift  their  place  by 
night. 

Here  an  objector  would  naturally  urge,  that  much  the 
same  imagery  is  twice  elsewhere  used  by  Joel| :  are  we 
then  to  conclude,  that  he  is  there  likewise  to  be  under- 
stood literally?  for,  to  make  him  consistent  wuth  himself, 
we  must,  in  all  the  three  parallel  passages,  understand  him 
either  literally  throughout,  or  figuratively  throughout. 

*  Bochart,  who  like  Chandler  understands  the  locusts  literally,  exerts  alt 
his  ingenuity  to  parry  the  force  of  this  argument,  which  had  been  strenuously 
urged  by  St.  Jerome  ;  but,  I  think,  with  very  little  success.  See  Ilieroz,  Pars 
I.  L.  Iv.  C.  5  p.  482. 

t  Joelii.  10.  t  Tool  i'i.  .10,  SI.  and  '£\.  15. 


502 

For  this  objection  Chandler  is  prepared  ;  and  tells  us, 
that  the  fire  mid  pilla7's  of  smoke,  mentioned  in  the  30th 
verse  of  the  2d  chapter,  mean  only  the  fire  and  smoke 
that  proceed  from  burning  towns  and  villages  ;  and  that 
the  smoke,  as  it  ascends,  darkens  the  sur,  and  gives  the 
moon  a  red  and  bloody  appearance.  I^e  acknowledges 
indeed  the  propriety  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  remark,  that 
the  darkening  the  sun,  and  the  turning  the  moon  into  blood, 
denote  the  ceasing  or  desolation  of  a  kingdom :  but  adds, 
that  it  is  evident  from  the  10th  verse  of  the  2d  chapter, 
that  it  does  not  always  denote  this  ;  and  thence  infers, 
that  neither  does  it  in  the  3\st  verse.  Thus  does  he 
attempt  to  decide  the  sense  of  one  disputed  passage,  by 
referring  us  to  another  which-  is  no  less  disputed.  The 
third  passage,  contained  in  the  15th  verse  of  the  3d  chap- 
ter, he  treats  in  the  same  manner ;  and  refers  us,  for  an 
authority,  to  what  he  had  said  on  the  second  passage. 
What  is  this  but  completely  arguing  in  a  circle  ?  As  for 
what  Chandler  says  respecting  the  literal  acceptation  of 
all  the  three  passages,  it  is  so  totally  contrary  to  the 
universal  spirit  of  prophetic  language,  and  so  plainly 
contrived  (particularly  in  the  case  of  the  first  passage)  to 
serve  a  turn ;  that  I  scruple  not  to  assert,  that  there  is 
not  the  slightest  foundation  for  it.  It  will  follow  there- 
fore, unless  I  be  greatly  mistaken  in  this  assertion,  that 
the  locust-army,  which  occasions  dreadful  political  revo- 
lutions, can  not  be  an  army  composed  of  literal  locusts. 

Tjie  opinion  here  advanced  by  me  is  adopted,  as 
Chandler  himself  acknowledges,  by  the  Chaldee  Para- 
phrast,  Grotius,  and  Jerome*.  The  first  of  these  writers 
renders  Joel  ii.  5,  Peoples,  nations,  tongues,  emperors, 
and  revenging  kingdoms.  The  second  thinks,  that  the 
prophet  does  not  mean  real  locusts  ;  but  that  he  points 
out  under  such  imagery  the  successive  irruptions  of 
Phul,  Tiglathphilasar,  Salmanasar,  and  Sennacherib.  The 
third  agrees  with  Grotius  in  principle ;  but  differs  from 
him  in  the  application  of  the  prediction.  He  observes, 
in  explaining  Chap.  ii.  Ver.  20,  that  the  northern  one 
means  the  Assyrians  and  Chaldeans,  who  came  from  the 
north  ;  and  adds,  that  the  term  northern  is  here  used  to 

■  Tt  is  likewise  adontud  bv  Abarbanel  and  Mede. 


303 

shew  that  the  prophet  does  not  intend  real  locusts,  but 
symbolical  07ies.  His  reasoning  is  just ;  though  liis  appU- 
cation  is,  I  think,  wrong.  Real  locusts  do  not  come  from 
the  north,  but  breed  in  the  warm  regions  of  the  south  *■. 
They  are  used  therefore  with  singular  propriety  by  St. 
John,  who  (as  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  justly  observe)  has 
borrowed  many  particulars  of  his  description  from  Joel , 
to  typify  the  vast  armies  of  the  Saracens.  In  the  Apo- 
calypse however  the  antitypical  locusts  come,  like  their 
types,  from  the  south  and  south-east :  consequently  the 
Apostle  had  no  occasion  to  specify  the  particular  quarter 
of  the  heavens ;  that  point,  nothing  being  said  to  the 
contrary,  would  be  sufficiently  determined  by  the  natural 
history  of  the  symbol  t.  But  Joel  wished  to  describe  a 
horde  of  rapacious  northern  invaders  under  the  same 
imagery.  Hence  both  the  decorum  of  the  type,  and  the 
right  understanding  of  the  prediction,  required,  that  he 
should  particulai'ly  specify  that  the  locusts  should  come 
from  the  north;  thus  tacitly,  though  plainly,  insinuating, 
that  he  meant  not  any  literal  locusts. 

Here  then  Chandler  has  a  fresh  difficulty  to  encounter: 
and  in  what  manner  does  he  endeavour  to  remove  it? 
Kimchi,  who  like  himself  supposes  the  locusts  to  be  lite- 
ral ones,  somewhat  unthinkingly  adopts  the  natural  and 
obvious  interpretation  of  the  passage  ;  and  says,  that  the 
prophet  calls  the  locust  the  northern  one,  because  it  came 
to  them  from  the  northern  quarter.  But  this  exposition 
is  by  no  means  satisfactory,  because  real  locusts  do  not 
come  from  the  north.  Chandler  therefore  adopts  the  gloss 
of  Bochart,  who  had  before  him  understood  the  locusts 
of  Joel  in  a  literal  sense,  and  who  must  also  before  him 
have  felt  the  refractoriness  of  this  passage.    "  The  north- 

*  Speaking  of  the  remarkable  accordance  of  fAe  apocalyptic  locusts  with  the 
Saracens,  Mv.  Daubuz  observes,  that  "the  Saracens  have  made  inroads  into 
all  those  parts  of  Christendom  where  the  natural  locusts  are  wont  to  be  seen 
and  known  to  do  mischief,  and  no  where  else  :  and  that  too  in  the  same  pro- 
portion. Wliere  the  locusts  are  seldom  seen,  there  the  Saracens  stayed  little  : 
where  the  natural  locusts  are  often  seen,  there  the  Saracens  abode  most : 
and,  'inhere  they  breed  most,  there  the  Saracens  had  their  beginning-,  and  greatest 
power."  Mr.  Mede  observes,  like  Mr.  Daubuz,  that  the  locusts  bred  much 
in  Arabia.  ( 

f  In  a  similar  manner,  he  symbolizes  the  various  irruptions  of  the  northern 
nations  by  a  storm  of  hail,  without  specifying  from  ivhat  quarter  that  storTti 
came,  because  the  north  is  the  region  of  snow  and  hail. 


304 

ei'n  one^^^  says  he,  "  is  that  part  of  the  locusts,  which  is 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  city  ;  and  the  barren  and  dry 
land^  into  which  the  Lord  will  drive  them,  is  Arabia 
which  lies  to  the  south  of  Judea,  and  where  they  would 
die  for  want  of  food."  Are  we  to  suppose  then,  if  literal 
locusts  be  intended,  that  there  were  none  on  the  south 
side  of  the  citv  ?  And  if,  as  common  sense  oblia:es  us  to 
conclude  no  less  than  the  very  full  and  ample  description 
of  the  prophet,  there  undoubtedly  were  ;  why  are  those 
on  the  northern  side  alone  noticed,  while  nothing  is  said 
respecting  those  on  the  southern  side  ?  Nor  is  this  all : 
the  two  seas,  as  both  Bochart,  Kimchi,  and  Chandler, 
allow,  are  the  dead  sea  *  and  the  Mediterranean  sea. 
How  then  could  the  locusts  be  between  these  two  seas, 
if  they  were  driven  far  into  the  desarts  of  Arabia  '\  ?  In 
short,  I  can  consider  such  an  interpretation  in  no  other 
light  than  that  of  a  mere  struggle  to  get  quit  of  a  diffi- 
culty. The  northern  one  is  evidently  a  sweeping  expres- 
sion, denoting  either  the  king  of  the  locusts  at  the  head 
of  his  armies,  or  the  xvhole  body  of  the  locusts  themselves. 
And  I  am  persuaded,  that  any  one,  who  reads  the  pas- 
sage unbiassed  by  system,  will  conclude,  that  tlie  north- 
ern locusts,  which  lay  waste  the  whole  land  of  Judea,  ai'c 
certain  locusts,  which  come  out  of  the  north  ;  and  that, 
when  he  recollects  that  locusts  are  ordinarily  bred  in  the 
south,  he  will  say  with  Jerome,  that  the  epithet  northern 
is  added  to  shew  that  the  prophet  did  not  intend  real 

iQCUStS. 

Supposing  then  that  the  locusts,  caterpillers,  canker- 
worms,  and  palmer- worms,  which  composed  the  vast 
army  described  by  Joel,  are  to  be  understood,  not  literal- 
ly, but  symbolically  ;  the  next  point  to  be  considered  is 

•  Kimchi  thinks,  perhaps  also  the  lake  of  Gertnesaretk. 

•}•  The  land  barren  and  desolate  is  certainly  the  land  between  the  seas,  or 
Palestine  ;  not  Arabia.  This  land  had  been  made  barren  and  desolate  by  tlie 
ravages  of  the  locust-army.  TJ^e  removing  to  a  distance  vn\s.%\.  be  taken  in  a 
qualified  and  limited  sense  ;  for  the  place,  to  which  the  .symbolical  locusts 
are  to  be  removed,  is  between  the  seas  of  Palestine,  no  less  than  the  tjlorious 
holy  mountain  itself  (compare  Dan.  xi.  45.).  We  learn  from  St.  John,  that 
this  place  is  Megiddo,  descriptively  termed  by  Joel  the  'oalley  of  the  Lord's 
judgvient ;  which  is  about  forty  miles  from  Jerusalem,  snd  which,  though  it 
may  be  considered  as  lying  between  the  dead  sea  and  the  Mediterranean,  is 
(to  speak  with  more  geographical  accuracy)  situate  between  the  Mediterra- 
nean and  tlie  sea  of  Gennesareth. 


305 

the  period  to  which  we  are  to  assign  this  trcmendoii:-. 
invasion  of  Judea.  Grotius  thinks,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
the  successive  invasions  of  Phul,  Tiglathphihisar,  Sahiia- 
nasar,  and  Sennacherib,  are  intended  *.  St.  Jerome  sup- 
poses, that  the  Chaldeans  and  Assyrians  are  the  sym- 
bohcal  locust-army.  Mr.  Mede  adopts  the  opinion  of 
Jerome  f.  Abarbanel  conjectures,  that  not  only  the  Chal- 
deans, who  carried  away  the  ten  tribes,  are  meant ;  but 
likewise  the  Babylonians,  who  destroyed  the  first  temple, 
and  the  Romans,  who  destroyed  the  second  %.  Kimchi 
observes,  that  some  of  the  Rabbies  expound  the  verse, 
in  which  the  destruction  of  the  locust-army  is  foretold, 
as  relating  to  the  days  of  the  Messiah :  and  he  thinks, 
that  the  Chaldee  Paraphrast  interprets  the  locusts  to  mean 
princes,  and  people,  and  kingdoms,  because  he  apprehend- 
ed that  these  things  w^ere  to  come  to  pass  in  the  days 
of  the  Messiah  ).  The  last  of  these  opinions,  provided 
we  understand  the  days  of  the  second  advent,  is,  I  believe, 
the  true  one.  As  for  the  others,  I  cannot  discover,  that 
any  one  of  them  at  all  accords  with  the  prophecy,  except- 
ing perhaps  that  wdiich  applies  it  to  the   invasion  and 

*  I  think  him  no  less  wrong'  in  this  part  of  his  opinion,  tlirm  in  his  ajipli-. 
cation  of  the  prophecy  to  a  period  during-  which  y-udnh  w;is  existing'  as  a 
kingdom.  These  four  trihes  of  animals  are  phiinly  represented  as  com- 
posing^ only  o)ie  army,  tlie  diflerent  divisions  of  wliich,  after  they  have 
jointly  entered  Palestine,  spread  tliemselves  over  the  face  of  the  whole 
country,  and  rival  each  other  in  mischievousness  and  rapacitj'.  "  Tliat  which, 
tlie  palmer-worm  hath  left,  hath  the  locust  eaten  ;  and  t!iat  which  the  locust 
hath  left,  hath  the  canker-worm  eaten  ;  and  tlial  which  the  canker-worm 
hath  left,  hath  the  caterpiller  eaten — A  fire  devoureth  before  them  ;  and 
behind  tliem  a  flame  burnetii :  the  land  is  as  the  g-arden  of  Eden  before 
them,  and  behind  them  a  desolate  wilderness  ;  yea,  and  notliing  sliall  escape 
them."  The  ravages  of  a  hostile  army,  sometimes  advancing  in  one  great 
body,  and  sometimes  dividing  itself  into  detachments,  could  not  have  been 
painted  more  to  the  life.  'I'here  cannot  be  a  better  comment  upon  the  pro- 
piiecy  than  the  conduct  of  the  locusts  of  Antichrist  in  the  course  of  their 
vai'ious  campaigns.  Every  part  of  tiie  European  continent  within  tlieir  reacli 
has  been  plundered  and  laid  waste  by  them.  They  have  been  vmiformly  sub- 
sisted at  the  expense  of  the  wretched  inhabitants.  And  I  doubt  not,  when- 
ever their  appointed  time  for  invading  Palestine  shall  arrive,  tliat  tlie  same 
deeds  of  havock  and  barbarity  will  be  there  also  re-acted.  Could  the  poet, 
who  wished  to  describe  the  universal  conduct  of  the  French,  have  pitclied 
upon  more  apposite  images  to  symbolize  those  barbarians,  than  locusts,  cater' 
pillers,  Ciinker-ivortns,  xnA  palmer -%v  or  vis  ?  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years. 
Vol.  ii.  p.  331.  (2d  edit.  p.  367.). 

f  Comment.  Apoc.  p.  467. 

i  Boch.  Hieroz;  P.  i.  L!  Iv.  C.  5.  p.  430. 

§  The  reader  will  find  all  these  authors  cited  by  Chandler  himself,  except 
Mede  and  Afcarlianel,  to  whom  I  have  therefore  eiven  references. 

39 


306 

destruction  of  Sennacherib.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that 
Joel  does  not  merely  foretell  an  invasion,  but  likewise  the 
destruction  of  the  invaders;  and  that  too  in  a  region  which 
he  very  particularly  specifies,  the  land  of  Palestine  be- 
tween the  eastern  sea  and  the  Mcstern  sea.  Now  the  Clial- 
deans,  who  canied  away  the  ten  tribes,  were  successful  in 
their  enterprize,  instead  of  experiencing  a  total  overthrow. 
So  likewise  were  the  Babylonians,  who  destroyed  the  first 
temple.  And  so  were  the  Romans,  who  destroyed  tlie 
second.  None  of  these  perished  in  Palestine  between  the 
two  seas :  how  is  it  possible  then  that  they  can  be  meant 
by  the  locust-army?  Sennacherib  undoubtedly  f/Zf/fail  in 
his  expedition,  and  his  army  was  miraculously  destroyed 
near  Libnah  '^'  which  is  situated  between  the  two  seas :  I 
am  willing  moreover  to  allow,  that  his  overthroAv  may  be 
considered  as  the  type  of  the  yet  future  overthrow  of 
Antichrist  in  the  same  bismarine  region,  though  not  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  place :  but  I  think  it  sufficiently  evident, 
that  the  prophecy  can  only  ha\^e  received  a  sort  of  inchoate 
accomplishment  in  that  event,  even  granting  that  it  at 
all  relates  to  it,  which  is  by  no  means  clearly  certain. 
Joel  himself  fixes  the  accomplishment  of  the  whole  of 
his  prophecy  to  a  certain  era,  which  he  calls  the  great 
day  of  the  Lord.  All  things  contained  in  it  are  to  come 
to  pass  either  immediately  before  this  great  day,  or  in 
this  great  day.  He  beholds  the  approach  of  the  locust- 
army  ;  and  exclaims,  Alas  for  the  day  I  for  the  day  of 
the  Lord  is  at  handf.  He  sees  them  commence  their 
wild  career  of  havock,  and  occasion  tremendous  revo- 
lutions in  the  political  heavens ;  and  again  exclaims, 
The  day  of  the  Lord  is  great  and  very  terrible  J.  He 
briefly  touches  upon  their  destruction  between  the  two 
seas,  and  predicts  the  subsequent  happy  state  of  Israel 
both  in  temporals  and  spirituals ;  and  declares,  that  those 
revolutions  shall  take  place  before  the  great  and  terrible 
day  of  the  Lord  come  \,  Lastly,  when  calling  together 
the  multitudes  of  the  nations  to  the  valley  of  judgment 
he  declares  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  in  that  valley  is 
fiear ;  and  that  it  shall  be  marked,  not  only  by  another 

*  2  Kings  xix.  8.  f  Joel  I.  IS. 

i  Joel  ii.  11.  «  Joel  ii.  10,  20,  23,  28,  31 


307 

and  most  awful  revolution,  a  revolution  about  to  b€^ 
experienced  in  their  turn  by  the  causers  of  revolutions, 
iDut  likewise  by  the  roaring  of  the  Lord  out  of  Zion,  by 
his  dwelling  in  his  holy  mountain,  by  his  suffering  hostile 
strangers  no  more  to  pass  through  Jerusalem,  and  by  his 
conferring  upon  his  people  every  kind  of  blessing  ^.  It 
is  evident  therefore,  that  the  prreat  day  of  the  Lord  must, 
as  it  is  used  by  Joel,  mean  the  period  in  which  the  locust- 
army  should  be  destroyed,  and  the  nations  he  cut  off  in  the 
valley  of  concision:  and  it  is  further  evident  from  Joel's 
(as  it  were)  anxious  repetition  of  the  phrase,  that,  since 
the  locust-army  and  the  army  of  the  nations  arc  both  to  be 
overthrown  in  the  same  great  day,  they  must  consist  of  the 
very  same  persons  ;  in  other  words,  that  the  last  chapter 
of  Joel  contains  only  an  enlarged  description  of  the  alrea- 
dy mentioned  overthrow  of  the  locust-army  between  the 
two  seas.  It  moreover  appears,  that  the  great  day  of  the 
Lord  comprehends  not  only  the  destruction  of  the  nations, 
but  likewise  the  grant  of  much  temporal  and  spiritual  hap- 
piness to  the  Jexvs. 

What  period  then  are  wc  to  understand  by  this  great 
day  ?  Chandler  most  arbitrarily  denies,  that  the  prophet 
uses  the  term  throughout  his  prediction  in  the  same 
sense ;  a  denial,  to  which,  according  to  his  scheme,  he 
was  necessarily  led  by  St.  Peter's  application  of  a  part  of 
the  prophecy  to  the  day  of  pentecost  f-  Accordingly  he 
tells  us,  that  the  great  day  of  the  Lord,  with  which  the 
locusts  are  connected,  means  nothing  more  than  the  time 
of  calamity  a?id  distress  which  their  ravages  occasioned ; 
and  therefore  a  day,  supposing  the  locusts  to  be  natural 
ones,  long  since  past:  but  that  the  great  day  of  the  Lord 
connected  with  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  means  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans.  In  both  cases  I 
believe  him  to  be  mistaken,  at  least  so  far  mistaken  as 
he  confnies  the  great  day  in  the  second  case  to  the  sack- 
ing of  Jerusalem.  Let  the  expression  mean  what  it  may, 
it  is  only  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  Joel,  who  four  times 
uses  it  in  the  course  of  a  very  short  prediction,  uses  it 
always  in  the  same  sense.     And;,  if  this  be  allowed,  it 

*  Joel  ili.  14—21 ,  +  Acts  ii.  15—21.. 


308 

will  at  least  follow  that  the  destruction  of  the  locusts  cail- 
iiot  have  taken  place  during  the  existence  of  Judea  as  a 
kingdom.  Maimonides  is  probably  right  in  thinking,  that 
the  expression  in  the  abstract  denotes  any  day  in  which 
God  sends  a  singular  or  extraordinary  punishment  *:  but 
I  am  persuaded  that  it  peculiarly  means  the  two  times  of 
the  first  and  second  advent  of  the  Messiah  ;  insomuch 
that  I  am  almost  inclined  to  believe,  that,  whenever  it  is 
applied  to  other  events,  it  is  only  applied  to  them  as  be- 
ing typical  of  those  two  great  times.  Malachi  uses  it  to 
describe  the  first  advent  \  :  and  Joel,  properly  to  de- 
scribe the  second  advent.  The  one  advent  however  is  a 
figure  of  the  other  ;  and  they  are  both  equally  denomi- 
nated the  great  day  of  the  Lord.  Hence  St.  Peter  applies 
to  the  first  a  prophecy,  which  properly  and  ultimately 
belongs  to  the  second  %.  And  hence  Bp.  Horsley  most 
truly  observes,  that  "a  far  greater  proportion  of  the 
prophecies,  even  of  the  Old  Testament,  than  is  generally 
imagined,  relate  to  the  second  advent  of  our  Lord ;  that 
few  comparatively  relate  to  the  first  adventhy  itself,  with- 
out reference  to  the  second ;  and  that  of  those,  that  have 
been  supposed  to  be  accomplished  in  the  first,  many  had 
in  that  only  an  inchoate  accomplishment,  and  have  yet 
to  receive  their  full  completion  ^." 

.loel  (for  I  wish  only  that  he  should  be  his  own  inter- 
preter) has  given  us  a  most  decisive  mark,  whereby  we 
may  know  which  of  the  two  advents  he  is  properly  treat- 
ing of.  He  tells  us,  that  the  time  of  God's  gathering 
together  the  nations  to  the  great  day  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
in  the  days  when  he  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of 

*  Mor.  Nev.  L.  ii.  C.  29.  cited  by  Chandler.  f  Mai.  iv.  5. 

i  "When  this  prophecj'  is  applied  to  the  first  advent,  the  sig'ns  in  tlie  sun 
Jind  moon  will  relate  to  the  dissolution  (if  the  Jewish  polity  ■■  but  1  certainly 
think,  tliat  it  properly  relates  to  the  second  advent  and  to  the  revolutions  which 
art  to  precede,  and  usher  it  in.  Notliing  however  is  more  common  in  prophecy, 
than  a  sort  of  double  allusion  both  to  the  first  and  second  advent ;  to  the  first 
as  typical  of  Me  second.  I  believe  Dr  Gray  to  be  perfectly  right  in  observins^, 
that  Joel,  in  this  prediction,  "foretells  the  g-enera!  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  was  to  characterize  tlie  Gospel  dispensation  ;  concluding'  with  a  strik- 
ing' description  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  wliicli  followed  soon  after, 
and  punished  the  Jews  for  their  obstinate  rejection  of  the  sacred  influence  ; 
speaking-  in  terms  that,  as  well  as  those  of  our  Saviour  which  resembled 
them,  had  a  double  aspect,  and  referred  to  a  primary  and  a  final  dispensation. 
Comp.  Joel  ii.  30,  31.  wilh  Matt.  xxiv.  29."  Key  to  the  Old  Testament,  P.  436 

§  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  P.  3. 


S09 

Judah  and  Jerusalem.  Thus  it  is  manifest,  that,  since, 
the  whole  of  his  prophecy,  as  he  four  times  carefully  tells 
us,  relates  to  the  great  day  of  the  Lord^  it  must  necessa- 
rily relate,  so  far  as  its  full  completion  is  concerned,  to 
the  great  day  of  the  second  advent;  for,  at  that  great  day^ 
not  at  the  great  day  of  the  first  advent  (lor  then  they 
were  dispersed),  the  Jeivs  will  be  restored.  This  being 
the  case,  the  destruction  of  the  symbolical  locust-army 
will  take  place  at  the  era  of  the  second  great  day  of  the 
Lord,  the  era  of  the  second  advent^  the  era  of  the  restora- 
tion of  Judah.  But  the  locust-army  is  not  only  to  be 
destroyed  at  this  era :  it  is  likewise  to  be  destroyed  in 
Palestine  between  the  two  seas.  Now  we  are  taught  by 
Daniel,  that  the  confederacy  of  the  Infidel  Icing  is  to  be 
overthrown  both  at  the  same  era,  and  in  the  same  bisma- 
rine  country  *.  Hence  we  necessarily,  I  think,  arrive 
at  the  conclusion  which  I  have  already  stated,  that  the 
locust-ariny  is  no  other  than  the  army  of  Antichrist. 

Chandler's  exposition  of  the  last  chapter  of  Joel  is  yet 
more  exceptionable  than  that  of  the  former  part  of  the 
prophecy.  He  separates  it  from  all  that  had  preceded  it, 
notwithstanding  Joel  firmly  binds  together  in  one  the 
whole  of  his  prediction,  by  four  times  referring  us  for 
its  accomplishment  to  the  great  day  of  the  Lord:  and 
fancies,  that  it  relates  to  nothing  but  a  war  between  iVhaz 
and  the  Edomites  and  Philistines,  in  the  course  of  which 
•several  of  the  Jews  were  taken  prisoners ;  and  to  some 
subsequent  victories  of  Hezekiah,  in  consequence  of 
which,  and  of  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib's  army, 
many  of  the  captives  were  probably  restored  to  liberty  f- 
Thus  does  he  reduce  the  restoration  of  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem to  the  mere  recovery,  and  that  the  only  probable 
recovery,  of  some  prisoners  of  war ;  and  the  magnificent 
description  of  the  overthrow  of  the  nations  in  the  great 

*  Dan.  xi.  45.  xii.  1. 

f  "Probably  under  the  prosperity  of  Hezekiah's  reign  manj'^  were  restored 
to  liberty — The  sacred  historian  takes  notice,  that  after  the  slaughter  of 
Sennacherib's  army  many  brought  gifts  to  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem,  and  pre- 
sents to  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah — If  ainongst  these  offerings  there  %vere  any 
prisoners  and  captives,  they  must  have  been  a  very  grateful  present  to  th^ 
relig-ious  and  virtuous  prince." 


310 

day  of  the  Lord  to  some  petty  victory  of  Hezekiah,  not 
of  sufficient  consequence  to  be  particularly  mentioned 
by  the  sacred  historian*.  Yet  tliis  strange  interpretation 
of  one  of  the  noblest  prophecies  in- Holy  AVrit  he  requires 
us  to  receive  in  preference  to  that  of  R.  Kimchi,  who 
naturally  supposes,  that  the  scattering  of  Israel  among 
the  nations  and  the  parting  of  God''s  land\  means  the 
scattering  of  the  Jews  and  the  partition  of  Palestine  by 
the  Romans  J  and  consequently  that  the  bringing  again  the 
captivity  of  Judah  means  his  final  restoration  %.  On  the 
same  principle  he  attempts  to  lower  all  the  promises, 
with  which  the  prophecy  concludes,  to  the  short-lived 
tranquillity  of  Jerusalem  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah ;  a  tranquillity  ere  long  disturbed  by 
the  captivity  of  his  son  Manasseh,  and  the  subsequent 
genenU  Babylonian  captivity  which  put  an  end  to  the 
kingdom  of  Judah.  How  the  divine  declaration,  that 
Jerusalem  should  be  holy,  that  hostile  strangers  ^  should 
pass  tlii'ough  her  no  more,  and  that  Judah  should  dwell 
for  ever,  could  have  been  fulfilled  in  the  reign  of  Heze- 

*  *'  If  we  take  the  valley  of  yehoshaphat  in  a  literal  sense,  the  prophet  fore- 
tells some  signal  vengeance  that  should  be  taken  on  the  Jewish  enemies  there ; 
which,  because  of  the  shortness  of  the  history,  we  may  not  be  so  well  able  to 
point  out  the  exact  accomplishment  of.  It  is  certain  Hezekiah  had  many 
victories  over  the  neighbouring  nations,  but  whether  any  of  them  happened 
in  tliis  valley  is  not  particulai'ly  mentioned." 

t  Joel  iii.'2. 

■'r  "  Kimchi  refers  this  fthc  bringing  again  the  captivity  of  yudahj  to  tlie 
clays  of  the  INIessiah  ;  and  the  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  (Joel  ii.  28.),  to  the 
days  when  the  captivity  of  yudah  should  be  brought  back,  without,  as  I  can 
find,  any  reason  for  such  an  application — Kimchi  understands  the  scattering  of 
the  yews,  and  the  partition  of  the  land,  o^'what  ivas  done  by  Titus  arid  his  artny, 
when  they  came  into  tlie  land  of  Israel.  But  this  seems  going  much  out  of 
the  way  to  find  out  the  accomplishment  of  this  prophecy.  AH  that  is  implied 
is,  that  the  nations  mentioned  made  several  incursions  into  the  Jewish  ter- 
ritories, seized  upon  several  of  their  cities  and  towns,  took  the  inhabitants 
captives,  and  sold  them  for  slaves."  What  a  singular  mode  of  sinking  a 
prophecy,  replete  with  the  boldest  and  most  terrific  images  ! 

§  Chandler  himself  adopts  the  obvious  exposition  of  Grotius,  that  the 
strangers,  here  mentioned,  are  hostile  strangers.  "  Jerusalem  shall  be  holi- 
ness, separated  to  God,  and  esteemed  as  under  h;s  peculiar  protection  by  the 
stranger  or  neighbouring  nations,  who  shall  therefore  no  more  pass  through  it  ; 
they  shall  neither  besiege,  nor  take  it:  or,  as  Grotius  expounds  it,  they  shall 
no  more  pass  through  it  with  a  hostile  army.  This  prophecy  seems  to  me 
to  have  been  fulfilled  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  when  God  saved  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  from  the  hand  of  Sennacherib,  and  from  the  |hand  of  all 
others,  and  guided  them  on  every  side  :  and  when  the  Lord  was  with  Heze- 
kiah, and  prospered  him  whithersoever  he  went  forth," 


HI 


kiab,  when  we  consider  what  speedily  followed  that 
reign,  it  is  not  very  easy  to  conceive*. 


PROPHECY  XXXII. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  and  the  occupation  of  their  country  by 
foreign  invaders — Their  restoration  and  triumph  over  the  mystic 
Edom. 

Amos  viii.  11.  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord 
God,  that  I  will  send  a  famine  in  the  land,  not  a  famine 
of  bread,  nor  a  thirst  for  water,  bnt  of  hearing  the  words 
of  the  Lord.  12.  And  they  shall  wander  from  sea  to 
sea,  and  from  the  north  even  to  the  east ;  they  shall  run 
to  and  fro  to  seek  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  not 
find  it. — ix.  4.  Though  they  go  into  captivity  before 
their  enemies,  thence  will  I  command  the  sword,  and  it 
shall  slay  them  :  and  I  w  ill  set  mine  eyes  upon  them  for 
evil,  and  not  for  good.  5.  For  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts 
toucheth  the  land,  and  it  shall  melt,  and  all  tliat  dwell 
therein  shall  mourn :  and  it  shall  be  come  up  upon  as  bij 
a  river  t,  and  it  shall  be  laid  under  water,  as  by  the  river 
of  Egypt.  6.  He  that  buildeth  his  chambers  in  the 
heavens,  and  foundeth  his  compact  foundation  in  the 
earth;  he  that  calleth  for  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and 
poureth  them  out  upon  the  face  of  the  earth :  Jehovah  is 
his  name — 8.  Behold,  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  the 
sinful  kingdom,  and  I  will  destroy  it  from  off  the  face  of 
the  earth ;  saving  only  that  I  will  not  utterly  destroy  the 

*  Dr.  Gray  observes,  that  this  prophecy  is  supposed  to  relate  to  the  cir- 
cumstances predicted  in  Ezekiel  xxxix.  5 — 11.  and  Rev.  xx.  8,  y.  (Key,  P. 
437.)  I  fully  agree  with  him,  that  tlie  Gog  and  Magog  of  Ezekiel  are  the  same 
as  the  Gog  arid  Magog  of  St.  John  ;  but  I  cannot  think,  that  the  prediction  ®1" 
Joel  at  all  relates  to  thnn.  It  speaks  oi  a  formidable  confederacy  about  to  be 
destroyed  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  yiidah  ,-  whereas  the  overthrow  of 
Gog  and  Magog  takes  place  at  the  end  of  the  millenniiiw.  Hence  I  rather 
think,  that  it  relates  to  the  circumstances  predicted  in  Isaiah  Ixiii.  Ezek.  xxvii, 
xxviii,  XXXV.  Dan.  xi.  40—45.  xii.  1.  Rev.  xiv.  17—20.  xviii,  xix.  11—21.  and 
many  other  parallel  prophecies. 

•j-  It  shall  be  come  np  upon  as  by  a  river^^  The  land  shall  be  overflowed  by 
Invading  armies,  as  completely  as  Egypt  is  by  the  periodical  flood  of  the 
Nile.  The  same  imagery  is  used  by  Isaiah.  "Whose  land  rivers  have 
spoiled"     Isaiah  xviii.  2.' 


312 

house  of  Jacobs,  saith  the  Lord.  9.  For  lo,  1  will  com- 
mand, and  I  will  sift  the  house  of  Israeli  among  all 
nations,  like  as  corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve  ;  yet  shall  not 
the  least  grain  fall  upon  the  earth.  10.  All  the  sinners 
of  my  people  shall  die  by  the  sword,  which  say,  The 
evil  shall  not  overtake  nor  prevent  us. 

11.  In  that  day  will  I  raise  up  the  tabernacle  of  David 
that  is  fallen,  and  close  up  the  breaches  thereof;  and  I 
will  raise  up  his  ruins,  and  I  will  build  it  as  in  the  days 
of  old.  12.  That  they  may  possess  the  remnant  of 
Eidom,  and  of  all  the  nations  upon  whom  my  name  hath 
been  called  J,  saith  tlie  Lord  that  doeth  this.  13.  Behold, 
the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  the  ploughman  shall 
overtake  the  reaper  || ;  and  the  treader  of  grapes,  him  that 
soweth  seed :  and  the  mountains  shall  drop  sweet  wine, 
and  all  the  hills  shall  melt.  14.  And  I  will  bring  again 
the  capti\'ity  of  my  people  Israel  *|f ;  and  they  shall  build 
the  waste  cities,  and  inhabit  them ;  and  they  shall  plant 
vineyards,  and  drink  the  wine  thereof;  they  shall  also 
make  gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them.  15.  And  I 
will  plant  them  upon  their  own  land,  and  they  shall  no 
more  be  pulled  up  out  of  their  land  which  I  have  given 
them,  saith  the  Lord  thv  God. 

*  The  sinfid  kingdom— the  house  ofyacob.']  There  is  a  manifest  and  remark- 
able distinction  litre  made  between  the  kiiigdoin  and  the  house.  The  kingdom 
should  be  utterly  destroyed  in  both  its  branciies  oi'  Israel  and  ^udah :  the 
house,  whatever  calamites  mig'ht  befall  it,  should  be  preserved. 

1 1  iviil  sift  the  house  of  Israel.^  Solving-  the  house  of  Israel  a'tnong  the  nations 
means,  as  lip.  liorsley  observes,  making  them  the  seed  of  the  Church  :  but  sift- 
ing them  luith  a  sieve  denotes  most  expressively  their  dispersion.  Flis  Lordship 
is  so  perfectly  right  in  his  observation,  that  not  a  single  instance,  1  believe, 
can  be  produced,  in  which  coiving  the  house  oj' Israel  ever  signifies  a  judgment 
injlicted  upon  them. 

+  Edom,  and  of  all  the  nations  upon  ichoin  my  name  hath  been  called.^  This 
expression  is  remarkable,  and  clearly  shews  us  wiiat  kind  of  nations  are 
intended.  Tht  mystic  Edom  and  his  confederate  nations  are  not  pagans,  ignorant 
of  the  very  name  of  the  Lord,  lut  professed  '■j.'orsliippers  of  him.  Against 
these  nominal  and  corrupt  believers  of  the  Homan  Edom  the  wrath  of  God  is 
denoiuiced  In  almost  every  prophecy,  that  treats  of  the  restoration  of  the  yews, 

II  The  days  come,  thai  t lie. ploughman  shall  overtake  the  reaper.']  "  This  and. 
the  following  verses  ought  to  be  understood  of  the  happy  state  oi  the  Millen- 
niuin,  which  may  be  supposed  to  begin  after  the  yev:s  are  restored  to  their 
country.     Compare  Joel  iii.  18."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

IIJ"  m-ill  bring  again  the  captivity  of  my  people  Israel.^  "  I  will  restore  them 
to  their  own  country,  and  settle  them  in  it"  (Mr.  Lowth  in  loc).  Captivity 
is  a  noun  of  number  meaning  a  multitude  of  captives,  as  in  many  other  places 


313 


COMMENTARY. 


In  the  beginning  of  this  prophecy,  Amos  predicts  the 
dispersion  of  Israel ;  and  foretells,  that,  in  consequence 
of  their  rejecting  the  Messiah,  there  should  be  among 
tliem  a  great  famine  of  true  religious  instruction.  He 
adds,  that  even  in  the  land  of  their  captivity  many  of 
them  should  be  slain  by  the  sword ;  a  declaration  woe- 
fully fulfilled  in  the  many  persecutions  which  the  Jews 
have  suifered  from  the  sanguinary  bigotry  of  Popery. 
Meanwhile  their  land  shall  be  overilow^ed  and  deluged  by 
rivers  of  foreign  invaders,  as  the  Nile  overflows  the  land 
of  Egypt.  The  Persians  shall  succeed  the  Romans  :  the 
Saracens,  the  Persians ;  the  western  crusaders,  the  Sara- 
cens ;  the  Turks,  the  crusaders ;  and  last  of  all,  at  the 
period  of  their  restoration,  the  armies  of  Antichrist  shall 
plant  their  tents  in  .the  glorious  holy  mountain.  The 
whole  of  this  is  the  Lord's  doing.  Yet,  though  he  will 
utterly  destroy  the  sinful  kingdom  of  Israel^  he  will  not 
utterly  destroy  the  house  of  Jacob.  The  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical polity  shall  be  completely  dissolved  ;  but  the 
individuals  themselves  shall  be  preserved.  These  God 
will  scatter  among  all  nations,  as  corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve  : 
yet,  unlike  natural  corn,  not  a  single  grain  shall  fall  to 
the  earth.  Every  grain,  distmct  from  its  fellow,  shall  con- 
tinue flying,  as  it  were,  between  the  earth  and  the  sieve 
of  God's  wrath,  unable  to  settle  upon  the  ground  and 
coalesce  into  heaps,  as  is  the  case  with  natural  corn  when 
sifted  *. 

Nevertheless,  while  they  are  in  this  scattered  and  for- 
saken state,  the  Lord  will  suddenly  raise  up  the  taber- 
nacle of  David,  and  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Israel. 

*  It  might  seem  at  first,  that  the  expression  not  the  least  grain  shall  fall  to 
the  earth  signifies,  that  every  individual  should  be  preserved  ;  but,  when  the 
whole  imagery  is  considered,  I  incline  to  think  that  I  have  adopted  the  right 
interpretation.  Suppose  that  some  miracle  prevented  the  sifted  grains  of 
wheat  from  falling  to  the  ground  ;  they  would  in  that  case  be  carried  about 
by  every  wind,  unconnected  with  each  other,  and  never  able  to  continue  long 
in  one  place.  In  this  wonderful  manner  God  threatens  to  sift  the  ^eivs  among 
all  nations.  The  sieve  of  his  wrath  shall  scatter  them  :  but  they  shall  never, 
like  the  Normans,  the  Saxons,  and  other  kindred  tribes,  that  have  spread 
themselves  far  and  wide  ;  they  shall  never  fall  to  the  ground,  and  be  at  rest. 

40 


314 

He  will  cause  them  to  possess  the  remnant  of  the  mystic 
Edom  which  had  so  long  persecuted  and  afflicted  them, 
and  of  all  those  nations  of  mere  nominal  Christians  upon 
whom  the  name  of  the  Lord  had  been  called  in  letter 
though  not  in  spirit.  He  will  bless  them  with  wonderful 
prosperity  in  the  land  of  their  fathers ;  and  will  never 
again  suffer  them  to  be  violently  dragged  away  from  it. 
Such  are  the  good  things  yet  in  store  for  Israel^  when  he 
shall  turn  unto  the  Lord  his  God. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  prophecy  is  couched  in 
general  terms,  and  relates  to  the  house  of  Joseph  no  less 
than  to  the  house  of  Judah. 


PROPHECY    XXXIII. 

The  certainty  of  the  restoration  of  Judah  and  Israel. 

Micah  ii.  12.  I  will  surely  assemble,  O  Jacob,  all  of 
thee  :  I  will  surely  gather  the  remnant  of  Israel  *  :  I  will 
put  them  together  as  the  sheep  of  Bozrah  t,  as  the  flock 
in  the  midst  of  her  fold  :  they  shall  make  a  great  noise 
by  reason  of  the  multitude  of  men.  13.  He  that  break- 
eth  do^vn  is  come  up  before  them  %  :  they  have  broken 
down  the  zuall,  and  have  passed  through  the  gate,  and 
have  gone  out  by  it:  and  their  king  passeth  before  them, 
even  the  Lord  |1  at  the  head  of  them. 

*  J  will  surely  gather  the  remnant  of  Israel."]  "  This  promise  relates  to  the 
general  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation."     5lr  Lowth  in  loc. 

1 1  will  put  them  together  as  the  sheep  of  Bozrah.]  "God  rs  often  styled  the 
shepherd  ef  Israel,  and  his  care  over  his  people  is^compared  to  that  of  a  shep- 
herd over  his  flock — Bozrah  is  a  noted  place  in  Idumea,  where  there  were 
large  flocks  of  sheep.     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

i  He  that  breaketh  doivn  is  come  up  before  the'>n.']  "  He,  that  shall  break 
the  bonds  of  their  captivity,  or  break  through  all  obstacles  that  hinder  tlieir 
return  home—The  Jewish  commentators  generally  tinderstand  the  breaker^ 
and  their  king  that  follows,  of  the  same  person,  viz.  the  Messiah.,  as  may  be 
seen  in  Dr.  Pocock  upon  the  place — The  words  seem  parallel  to  that  expres- 
sion of  Zechariah  (Chap.  xii.  8.).  As  the  angel  nfthe  Lord  before  them,  or  at 
the  head  of  them.  Some  oi  the  yews  indeed,  with  a  little  variation,  expound 
their  king  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  breaker  of  Iiis  forerunner  Elijah,  as  Dr. 
Pocock  observes."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

fl  Their  king— even  the  Lord.]  "  The  Messiah,  who  is  both  their  God  and 
their  king,  shall  conduct  them  as  tlieir  captain  and  general.  Compare  Isaiah 
lii.  12.  Hos.  i.  11."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc 


315 


COMMENTARY. 


The  general  restoration  of  Israel  Is  here  predicted, 
under  the  image  of  a  shepherd  gathering  together  his 
Jiock  into  the  fold:  and  an  oblique  intimation  is  given, 
which  Micah  sufficiently  explains  in  the  succeeding  pro- 
phecy, that  he  should  be  made  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
an  instrument  of  judgment  upon  his  enemies.  He  that 
breaketh  down  is  Jehovah  the  Messiah ;  \\\\o  is  repre- 
sented like  a  general  leading  on  his  troops  to  the  work 
of  destruction. 


PROPHECY  XXXIV. 

The  glories  of  the  Millennian  church — The  mystic  birth  of  the 
Jewish  nation — The  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy 
partly  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  Jews — The  advent  of  Christ 
— He  protects  the  now  converted  Jews,  and  destroys  the  mystic 
Assyrian — The  instrumentality  of  the  Jews  in  the  conversion,  oi" 
the  Gentiles. 

Micah  iv.  1.  And  in  the  end  of  days  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  the  mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  ex- 
alted above  the  hills ;  and  the  nations  shall  flow  unto  it. 

2.  x\nd  many  nations  shall  come,  and  say,  Come,  and 
let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the 
house  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ;  and  he  will  teacli  us  of  \vii 
ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths  ;  for  the  law  shall  go 
forth  of  Zion,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem. 

3.  And  he  shall  judge  among  many  people,  and  rebuke 
strong  nations  afar  off ;  and  they  shall  beat  their  swords 
into  plow-shares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks : 
nation  shall  not  lift  up  the  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  they  learn  war  any  more.  4.  But  they  shall  sit 
every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree ;  and 
none  shall  make  them  afraid.  5.  Though  all  people  walk 
every  one  in  the  name  of  his  god,  yet  we  will  walk  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.  6.  In  that 


316 

day,  saith  the  Lord,  will  I  assemble  her  that  halteth,  and 
I  will  gather  her  that  is  driven  out*,  and  her  that  I  have 
afflicted:  7.  And  I  will  make  her  that  halted  a  remnant; 
and  her  that  was  cast  far  oflP,  a  strong  nation  |  :  and  the 
Lord  shall  reign  over  them  in  mount  Zion  from  hence- 
fortli  even  for  ever.  8.  And  thou,  O  daughter  of  the 
flock,  the  strong  hold  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  unto  thee 
shall  it  come,  even  the  first  dominion ;  the  kingdom  shall 
come  to  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem. 

9.  Now  why  dost  thou  cry  out  aloud  ?  is  there  no 
king  in  thee?  is  thy  counsellor  perished?  for  pangs  have 
taken  thee  as  a  woman  in  travail.  10.  Be  in  pain,  and 
labour  to  bring  forth,  O  daughter  of  Zion,  like  a  woman 
in  travail:  although  now  thou  goest  forth  out  of  the  city, 
and  dwellest  in  the  field,  and  goest  to  Babylon ;  yet  there 
shalt  thou  be  delivered,  there  sliall  the  Lord  redeem  thee 
from  the  hand  of  thy  enemies. 

11.  And  now  many  nations  are  gathered  against  thee, 
that  say,  Let  her  be  defiled,  and  let  our  eye  look  upon 
Zion.  12.  But  they  know  not  the  thoughts  of  the  Lordl, 
neither  understand  they  his  counsel :  for  he  shall  gather 
them  as  the  sheaves  into  the  floor.  13.  Arise,  and  thresh, 
O  daughter  of  Zion :  for  I  will  make  thhie  horn  iron, 
and  I  will  make  thy  hoofs  brass  ;  and  thou  shalt  beat  in 
pieces  many  people :  and  I  will  devote  their  gain  unto 
the  Lord  vvith  a  curse  of  utter  destruction,  and  their 
substance  unto  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth,  v.  1.  Now 
gather  thyself  in  troops,  O  daughter  of  troops:  siege  he 
hath  laid  against  us  :  with  a  rod  they  have  smitten  upon 
the  cheek  the  tribes  of  Israel  \. 

*  I  Kvill  gather  her  that  is  driven  out.']  "  This  relates  to  the  calling"  of  the 
yeKvs  from  their  sever:d  dispersions  into  the  Church."     Mr.  Lo%vtii  in  loc. 

•}■  Her  that  ivas  cast  far  off,  a  strong  nation.']  "  The  ^eivs,  when  they  return 
from  their  several  dispersions,  shall  be  victorious  over  all  their  enemies."^ 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

if  They  ino^u  not  the  thoughts  of  the  Lord.']  Antichrist  and  his  Jolloifert  are 
blindly  bent  upon  accomplishing  their  own  purposes  ;  and  thus  ig-norant  of 
what  is  foretold  respecting'  them  in  Scripture,  they  rush  upon  their  own 
destruction.  Daniel  uses  language  exactly  to  the  same  purpose  :  "  None  of 
the  wicked  shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  sliall  understand."     Dan.  xii.  10. 

§  With  a  rod  they  have  stnitten  upon  the  cheek  the  tribes  of  Israel.  ]  So  the 
J. XX,  Ev  pxQcM  aracT£«|y(r<»  tTiri  Tixycix  rcu;  tpvXxi  ra  la-pxtiX  :  and  the  Arabic, 
Fusti  percutieiit  genamfatniliarutn.  Israelis.  Both  these  versions  have  plainly 
JVad  tJic  Juid  not  jasa'.    Compare  Isaiah  ix.  4—xiv.  4,  5,  6 — xxx.  31,  32— 


317 

2.  But  thou,  Bethlehem-Ephratah,  though  thou  be 
little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee 
shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  ruler  in  Israel ; 
whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  old,  from  everlasting. 
3.  Therefore  will  he  give  them  up^  i?ito  the  hand  of  their 
enemies  until  the  time  tliat  she  which  travaileth  hath 
brought  forth ;  then  the  remnant  of  his  brethren  shall 
return  unto  the  children  of  Israel.  4.  And  he  shall  stand 
and  feed  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  in  die  majesty  of 
the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God ;  and  they  shall  abide : 
for  now  shall  he  be  great  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

5.  And  this  ruler  shall  be  peace  wito  us,  when  the 
Assyrian  shall  come  into  our  landf,  and  when  he  shall 
tread  down  our  palaces :  and  we  will  raise  against  him 
seven  shepherds  and  eight  anointed  men  J.  6,  And 
they  shall  waste  the  land  of  Assyria  with  the  sword,  and 
the  land  of  Nimrod  in  the  entrances  thereof:  and  he  shall 
deliver  us  from  the  Assyrian  when  he  cometh  into  our 
land,  and  when  he  treadeth  within  our  borders.     7.  And 

Ezek  XX.  37.  In  the  Hebrew,  the  Syrlac,  and  the  Arabic,  what  is  the  first 
verse  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  JMicah  in  our  version  is  arranged  as  the  last  verst- 
ef  the  fourth  chapter^  agreeably  to  the  plain  import  of  the  context.  I  have 
accordingly  supposed  the  paragraph  to  end  with  this  verse. 

•  Will  he  give  them  up.']  Having  rejected  the  Messiah,  they  shall  no  more 
be  his  people,  until  the  time  of  their  mystic  birth,  namely  their  restoration 
and  conversion.  "  God  will  give  up  his  people  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies, 
or  leave  them  to  be  exercised  with  troubles  and  afflictions,  till  the  appointed 
time  of  their  deliverance  cometh,  which  shall  be  greater  than  that  from  Baby- 
lon. This  deliverance— will  be  fully  completed  in  the  general  restoration  of 
the  Jewish  nation  to  be  expected  in  the  latter  ages."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

■j-  When  the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  our  land.]  "  I  take  tlie  sense,  which 
Mr.  Mede  hath  given  to  this  passage,  to  be  most  agreeable  to  the  scope  and 
design  of  the  following  part  of  the  chapter.  See  liis  Works,  p.  796,  where 
he  expounds  the  place  of  the  general  destruction  of  some  remarkable  enemy 
or  enemies  to  God  and  his  truth,  which  should  come  to  pass  before  the  con- 
summation of  all  things  ;  an  event  foretold  in  several  places  of  Scripture.  This 
enemy  is  probably  called  by  the  name  of  the  Assyrian  by  Isaiah  (chap.  xiv. 
25.),  as  well  as  by  Micah  here."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

^  Seven  shepherds — eight  anointed  men.]  "  Some  imagine,"  says  Dr.  Gray, 
**  that  Micah  foretells  in  this  prophecy  the  victories  to  be  obtained  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Medes  and  Babylonians  who  took  Nineveh.  Others  suppose  him 
to  speak  o?  the  seven  Maccabees  with  their  el^ht  royal  successors,  from  Aristo- 
bulus  to  Antigonus."  Dr.  Gray  himself  conjectures,  that  "it  may  perhaps 
bear  a  reference  to  some  higher  triumpli ;"  and  refers  us  to  Ezek.  xxxviii.  and 
xxxix.  wherein  the  destruction  of  Gog  and  Magog  is  foretold  (Key  to  O.  Test. 
p.  465.).  Though  I  cannot  believe  that  it  relates  to  the  war  of  Gog  and  Magog, 
I  think  him  perfectly  right  in  his  general  idea  that  the  accomplishment  of  it 
is  yet  future.  All  these  events  are  to  happen  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of 
the  ^ews :  how  then  can  they,  with  any  degree  of  propriety,  be  referred  to 
Xim«s  previous  eveji  tq  the  first  advent  of  Christ  ? 


318 

the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  many  peo- 
ple, as  the  dew  from  fhe  Lord,  as  showers  upon  the 
grass,  that  tarrieth  not  for  man,  nor  waiteth  for  the  sons 
of  men.  8.  And  the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be  among 
the  nations  in  the  midst  of  many  people  as  a  lion  among 
the  beasts  of  the  forest,  as  a  young  lion  among  the  flocks 
of  sheep ;  who,  if  he  go  through,  both  treadeth  down, 
and  tearcth  in  pieces,  and  none  can  deliver.  9.  Thine 
hand  shall  be  lifted  up  upon  thine  adversaries,  and  all 
thine  enemies  shall  be  cut  off. 

10.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  1  will  cut  off  thy  horses  out  of  the  midst  of 
thee,  and  I  will  destroy  thy  war-chariots:  11.  And  I 
will  cut  off  the  fortijied  cities  of  thy  land,  and  throw 
down  all  thy  strong  holds  :  12.  And  I  will  cut  off  witch- 
crafts out  of  thine  hand ;  and  thou  shalt  have  no  more 
soothsayers :  13.  Thy  graven  im.iiges  also  will  I  cut  off, 
and  thy  standing  images  out  of  the  midst  of  thee ;  and 
thou  shalt  no  more  worship  the  work  of  thine  hands  : 
14.  And  I  will  pluck  up  thy  groves  out  of  the  midst  of 
thee;  and  I  will  desti'oy  thy ybr^j^d* J  cities.  15.  And  I 
will  execute  vengeance  in  anger  and  fury  upon  the  na- 
tions*, such  as  thev  have  not  heard. 

COMMENTARY. 

Micah  begins  this  prophecy  with  predicting,  in  terms 
similar  to  a  parallel  passage  in  Isaiah  f,  the  glories  of  the 
millennian  kingdom  of  Christ. 

He  declares,  that,  after  God  had  judged  among  the 
people,  and  rebuked  the  nations,  war  and  destruction 
should  be  no  more ;  but  that  every  one  should  dwell 
peaceably  with  his  neighbour. 

He  then  proceeds  to  enter  into  particulars.  He  fore- 
tells the  general  restoration  of  Israel;  and,  addressing 
himself  to  the  mystic  daughter  of  Zion,  he  calls  upon  her 

*  I  luill  execute  vengeance  in  anger  and  fury  upon  the  nations.']  "  When  I 
have  purged  my  people  from  their  corruptions,  I  will  severely  vindicate  their 
cause,  to  the  utter  destruction  of  all  their  unbelievin|f  enemies."  Mr.  Lowth 
in  loc. 

t  Is.aiah  ii.  1—5. 


319 

to  be  in  travail,  and  to  bring  forth  the  mighty  multitude 
of  her  sons  *.  Though  she  has  long  gone  out  of  her 
city,  and  has  been  led  away  captive  into  the  dominions 
of  the  Roman  Babylon  f  /  yet  even  there  the  Lord  will 
convert  her  and  deliver  her,  and  will  redeem  her  from 
the  hand  of  her  enemies. 

He  next  directs  our  attention  to  another  particular, 
with  which  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  Mil- 
lennium will  be  marked.  While  the  daughter  of  Zion 
is  returning  into  her  own  land,  many  nations,  ignorant  of 
the  counsel  of  the  Lord,  shall  league  themselves  against 
her.  But  this  confederacy  of  Antichrist  God  will  gather 
together  to  Armageddon  J,  as  sheaves  of  corn  are  gather- 
ed into  the  floor.  Then  will  he  call  aloud  to  the  daughter 
of  Zion  to  arise  and  thresh,  and  to  beat  in  pieces  many 
people  :  then  will  he  make  her  horn  iron,  and  her  hoofs 
brass  :  then  will  he  devote  unto  the  Lord  with  a  curse  of 
utter  destruction  the  substance  of  those,  w4io  have  them- 
selves proclaimed  an  anathema  against  their  opponents. 
Antichrist  wars  under  the  pretext  of  religion.  He  goeth 
forth,  as  we  leani  from  Daniel,  to  devote  with  a  curse 
many  to  utter  destruction.  But  this  curse  of  extermi- 
nation will  be  retorted  upon  himself:  and  he  will  perish 
with  his  assembled  multitudes  at  Megiddo ;  which  St. 
John,  to  denote  the  same  circumstance  that  Micah  here 
alludes  to,  forms  into  the  compound  word  Annageddon, 
or  the  cursing  to  extirmination  at  Megiddo.  Against  this 
enemy,  who  will  lay  siege  to  Jerusalem,  who  will  even 
be  permitted  to  take  it,  and  who  will  smite  with  the  rod 
of  tyrannical  oppression  the  tribes  of  Israel.,  the  daughter 
of  Zion  is  called  upon  to  gather  herself  in  troops. 

It  is  now  necessary  however,  that  the  prophet  should 
go  back  to  the  times  of  the  first  advent.,  in  order  to  bring 
upon  the  stage  that  mighty  deliverer  who  alone  is  able  to 
tread  the  wine-press  of  God's  indignation.  He  foretells, 
that,  although  the  goings  forth  of  the  Messiah  ha\  e  been 
from  everlasting,  the  place  of  his  earthly  nativity  should 

*  Compare  Isaiah  xxvi.  17.  and  Ixvi.  7—12. 

•j-  The  literal  Babylonian  captivity  can  only  be  meant  in  an  inchoate  sense, 
for  the  daughter  of  Zion  has  never  yet  arisen  and  threshed  her  enemies. 
%  Rev.  xvi.  16. 


320 

be  the  small  town  of  Bethlehem  ^.  The  divine  ruler 
Cometh  to  his  own,  and  his  own  receive  him  not. 
Therefore  will  he  give  them  up  to  be  led  away  captive 
by  their  enemies,  till  the  time  when  the  daughter  of  Zion 
shall  travail,  and  bring  forth  a  whole  nation  at  once  ;  or 
till  that  mystic  birth  of  the  restored  Jewish  people  shall 
take  place,  which  the  prophet  had  already  announced  f* 
Then  shall  the  remnant  of  Christ's  brethren  according  to 
the  flesh  return  unto  the  children  of  Israel^  and  form  with 
them  only  one  nation.  Their  once  rejected  Redeemer 
shall  be  their  king.  He  shall  feed  his  flock  in  the  strength 
of  the  Lord.  And  such  shall  be  the  increase  of  the 
Church  in  the  happy  age  of  the  Millennium,  that  he  shall 
be  great  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  all  people  shall 
flow  unto  his  holy  mountain. 

Messiali  however  will  be  revealed,  not  only  to  be  peace 
unto  his  people,  but  likewise  to  be  a  terror  unto  his  ene- 
mies. When  the  mystic  Assyrian,  the  Antichristian  head 
of  the  Roman  Babylon^  shall  enter  into  the  land  of  Pales- 
tine ;  when  he  shall  tread  down  its  palaces,  and  plant  the 
curtains  of  his  tents  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy 
mountain :  then  will  the  Lord  suddenly  go  forth  in  his 
anger,  and  deliver  his  chosen  from  the  hand  of  their 
oppressors  ;  then  shall  the  wilful  king  come  to  his  end, 
and  none  shall  be  able  to  help  him.  The  tyrant  of  Baby- 
lon, that  shook  whole  kingdoms,  and  that  made  the  world 
as  a  wilderness,  shall  in  his  tuni  feel  the  avenging  arm  of 
God.  For  the  Lord  will  surely  break  the  Assyrian  in 
his  land,  and  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel  tread  him 
imder  foot ;  so  that  his  yoke  shall  depart  from  off"  the 
sons  of  Jacob,  and  his  burden  from  off"  their  shoulders  J. 

It  appears  both  from  the  present  prophecy,  and  from 
others  which  are  parallel  to  it,  that,  although  the  over- 
throw of  the  Antich'istian  faction  will  be  chiefly  miracu- 
lous, yet  it  will  partly  be  eflccted  by  the  instrumentalit)'^ 

*  It  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  the  Chaldee  Paraphrast  expressly 
applies  this  prophecy  to  the  Messiah,  just  as  the  chief  priests  and  scribes 
(Matt.  ii.  o— 6)  rightly  interpreted  it  to  Herod.  "  Et  tu,  Bethlehem  Eplirata^ 
—ex  te  coram  meprodibit  Cliristus." 

f  Compare  Micah  iv.  10.  with  v.  3. 

i  Compare  Isaiah  xiv.  6,  16,  If,  25,  and  Comment  on  Prophecy  V.' 


321 

of  the  Jews  themselves.  The  daughter  of  Zion  is  to  thresh 
and  beat  in  pieces  the  nations  that  are  assembled  against 
her :  and  the  remnant  of  Jacob  is  to  be  in  the  midst  of  the 
peoples  as  a  lion  among  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  as  a 
young  lion  among  the  flocks  of  sheep ;  treading  down 
and  tearing  in  pieces,  so  that  none  can  deliver  *. 

Who  are  meant  by  the  seven  shepherds  and  the  eight 
anointed  men,  that  are  represented  as  going  forth  to  light 
the  battles  of  Israel,  and  to  waste  with  the  sword  the 
land  of  the  figurative  Assyrian,  it  is  impossible  now  to 
determine  with  any  degree  of  precision,  and  therefore  it 
would  be  a  vain  waste  of  time  to  indulge  in  the  fruitless- 
ness  of  conjecture  :  the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecy 
itself  can  alone  explain  this  part  of  it. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  the  remnant  of  Jacob 
are  not  only  to  be  in  the  midst  of  the  nations  as  a  lion 
among  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  and  as  a  young  lion  among 
the  flocks  of  sheep ;  but  they  are  likewise  to  be  in  the 
midst  of  many  people  as  the  dew  from  the  Lord,  as 
showers  upon  the  grass,  that  tarrieth  not  for  man,  nor 
waiteth  for  the  sons  of  men.  This  accords  with  those 
prophecies  which  declare,  that  the  converted  Israelites 
will  be  greatly  instrumental  in  spreading  the  Hght  of  the 
Gospel  through  distant  nations  f,  and  that  they  will  be 
made  as  it  were  the  seed  of  the  millennian  church.  Dew 
from  the  Lord,  and  shoxvers  upon  the  grass,  tj^pify  the 
graces  and  doctrines  of  the  Holy  SpiiitX-  Hence  I  think, 
that  the  diffusing  of  the  remnant  of  Jacob  (after  their 
restoration  and  conversion,  be  it  observed)  in  the  midst  of 
many  people,  like  dew  and  gentle  showers,  must  mean 

*  "  The  former  verse  (Micah  v.  7.)  described  the  benefits,  which  the  con* 
verted  yevos  sliould  bring  to  those  Gentiles  that  were  disposed  to  embrace  the 
Gospel :  this  (ver.  8.)  instructs  us,  how  terrible  adversaries  they  will  prove 
to  such  as  persist  in  their  enmity  to  them  and  to  the  truth.  Comp.  Obad. 
18,  19.  Zech.  xii.  6."     Mr.  Lowth.  in  loc. 

■j-  "  Tliat  remnant,"  says  Mr.  Lowth,  "shall  be  the  instruments  of  convert- 
ing those  Gentiles  among  whom  they  live  ;  and  thereupon  may  fitly  be  repre- 
sented by  the  dews  and  rains,  which  come  down  from  heaven,  and  are  the 
means  of  making  the  earth  fruitful." 

+  "  Rain,  if  not  immoderate,  and  deiv,  and  living  water,  for  the  graces  and 
doctrines  of  the  Spirit ;  and  ilie  deject  of  rain,  for  spiritual  barrenness"  (Sir 
leuac  Newton's  Observ.  on  Dan.  p.  19.).  "A  church  is  made  a  wilderness 
and  a  parched  land,  when  the  living  waters  of  the  Spirit  are  withheld,"  Bp, 
Ilorslev's  Hosea,  p.  5. 

41 


322 

precisely  the  same  as  the  promise,  that  they  should  bs 
sown  among  the  nations :  that  is  to  say,  they  should  be 
the  seed  of  the  church  ;  they  should  diffuse  to  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth  the  graces  and  doctrines  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  *.  Yet,  as  the  dew  and  showers  tarry  not  for  man, 
nor  wait  for  the  sons  of  men ;  so  will  not  the  Spirit  of 
God  always  strive  with  man,  nor  wait  for  his  acquies- 
cence beyond  a  certain  limited  period.  In  the  morning 
of  the  great  day  of  the  Millennium,  the  converted  Israel- 
ites are  as  dew  and  gentle  rain  among  the  people.  As  the 
day  advances  towards  noon^  the  dew  and  the  rain  are 
gradually  dried  up ;  and  the  watered  vineyard  of  the 
Lord  is  reduced  within  narrower  limits.  In  the  evenings 
as  we  are  taught  by  Ezekiel  and  St.  John,  the  daring 
confederacy  of  Gog  and  Magog  makes  its  appearance. 

The  concluding  verses  teach  us,  that,  during  the  hap- 
py period  of  the  Millennium,  and  after  the  Lord  had 
executed  his  vengeance  upon  the  nations,  all  wars  and 
tumults  should  cease.  Every  fortified  city  and  every 
strong  hold  should  be  destroyed!  ;  the  land  of  Israel 
should  be  a  land  of  unwalled  villages ;  the  people  should 
dwell  without  walls,  and  having  neither  gates  nor  bars  ; 
and  the  Lord  should  cut  the  spear  in  sunder,  and  burn 
the  chariot  in  the  fire  J.  With  this  freedom  from  war 
there  should  likewise  be  a  freedom  from  all  idolatry,  and 
from  every  superstitious  practice  that  is  an  abomination 
to  God.  The  vanities,  that  have  so  long  bewildered 
erring  mortals,  should  then  be  abolished ;  and  true  reli- 
gion alone  should  flourish. 

*^See  Bp.  Horsley's  Hosea,  p.  9.  and  my  ovvn  commentary  on  Prophecy 
XXVII.  XXXII.  and  XXXIX.  in  the  present  work. 

f  The  meaning  of  the  passage,  according  to  Mr  Lowth,  is,  "  I  will  afford 
deliverance  to  my  people,  not  in  the  ordinary  way  of  second  causes,  but  im- 
mediately by  myself;  so  that  they  shall  not  need  to  trust  in  the  strength  of 
their  forces,  or  of  their  garrisons.*' 

%  Compare  Ezek.  xxxviii.  11.  and  Psalm  xlvi.  9. 


S23 


PROPHECY    XXXV. 

Lamentation  of  the  dispersed  church — A  promise  of  her  restoration 
and  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist. 

Micah  vii.  1.  Zion.  Woe  is  me!  for  I  am  as  when 
they  have  gathered  the  summer  fruits,  as  the  grape  glean- 
ings of  the  vintage*:  there  is  no  cluster  to  eatv  my  soul 
desireth  the  first  ripe  fruit. — -8.  Rejoice  not  against  me, 
O  mine  enemy  :  when  I  fall,  I  shall  arise  ;  when  I  sit  in 
darkness,  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto  me.  9.  I  will 
bear  the  indignation  of  the  Lord,  because  I  have  sinned 
against  him,  until  he  plead  my  cause,  and  execute  judg- 
ment for  me :  he  will  bring  me  forth  to  the  light,  and  I 
shall  behold  his  righteousness.  10.  Then  she  that  is 
mine  enemy f  shall  see  it,  and  shame  shall  cover  her: 
which  said  unto  me^  Where  is  the  Lord  thy  God?  mine 
eyes  shall  behold  her :  now  shall  she  be  trodden  down  as 
the  mire  of  the  streets. 

11.  Jehovah.  In  the  day  that  thy  walls  are  built,  in 
that  day  shall  the  decree  be  removed.  12.  In  that  day 
thy  fugitives  shall  come  :j:  from  AssjTia  and  the  fortified 

"  The  grape  gleanings  of  the  vintage.']     Compare  Isaiah  xxlv.  13.  and  xvii.  6. 

■j"  She  that  is  mine  enemy.']  As  the  daughter  of  Zion  is  the  speaker,  we  must 
suppose  that  her  enemy  is  the  daughter  of  Babylon.  See  Psalm  cxxxvii.  8. 
Tins  prophecy  may  primarily  relate  to  the  literal  Babylonian  captivity,  but  it 
M'ill  be  more  amply  fulfilled  at  tlie  \iev\c)doi  the  yet  future  restoration  of  Israel . 
There  is  a  strength  of  expression  in  it,  which  forbids  us  to  Umit  it  to  the 
first  captivity. 

t  Thy  fugitives  shall  coine.]  Our  translators  render  xp^  ^nj?  he  shall  come 
even  unto  thee,  supposing  «ijj  to  be  a  preposition.  The  words,  so  far  as  the 
bare  letter  of  them  goes,  will  undoubtedly  bear  such  a  translation  :  but  to  my 
own  mind  at  least  it  conveys  no  very  clear  idea.  For,  since  the  dialogue  is 
carried  on  between  God  and  the  daughter  of  Zion,  and  since  God  is  here  the 
speaker ;  to  whom  can  we  refer  he  shall  come  except  to  God?  and  in  that  case 
what  are  we  to  understand  by  the  passage  ?  It  might  be  added,  that  there 
seems  a  degree  of  harshness  in  supposing  God  to  speak  of  himself  in  the 
third  person  instead  of  the  first.  I  conceive  then,  that  ny  is  not  a  preposi- 
tion, but  a  singular  masculine  noun  of  number,  regularly  formed  from  mj?  to 
pass  over  or  to  pass  away,  as  'laB'  is  from  naty,  'ic  from  mtf,  '>"\D  from  n"ia,  and 
other  similar  words.  Consequently,  as  lyj;  signifies  captivity  in  the  sense  of 
a  7nultitude  of  captives,  and  as  rh'M  signifies  reonoval  in  the  sense  of  a  number 
of  persons  removed  or  transplanted  from,  one  country  to  another  ,•  so,  by  analogy 
both  of  grammar  and  idiom,  njj  will  signify  a  passing  aviay  in  the  sense  of 
a  nuinber  of  people  passing  aviayfrom  their  onun  country  and  becoming  fugitives. 
Whence  the  meaning  of  ^np  'will  be  thy  onultitude  of  fugitives ;  that  is,  Zion't 
rrtultitude  of  fugitives,  the  dispened  ^evit  and  Israelites.    The  primitive  import 


324 

cities,  and  from  the  fortress  even  to  the  river,  and  from 
sea  to  sea,  and  mountain  to  mountain.    13.  For  the  land 

of  my  is  to  pass  over,  upon,  ov  aivay  /  in  which  sense  it  occurs  in  Job  xxviii. 
8,  and  in  Jerem.  xxxi.  4 ;  where  (I  think  with  Mr.  Parkhurst)  what  is  trans- 
lated thou  shalt  be  adornedtuith  thy  tabrets  ouglit  ratiier  to  have  been  translated 
thou  shalt  pass  over  (i.  e.  thou  shalt  trip  along  the  path)  viith  thy  tabrets.  This 
both  accords  witli  tlie  next  clause  thou  shalt  go  forth  in  the  dances,  and  with 
the  nature  of  the  tabret  itself,  which  is  certainly  no  part  of  ornamental  dress. 
Such  being  the  primitive  signification  of  nij)»  it  easily,  according  to  the  genius 
of  the  Hebrew  language,  acquired  transitively  the  sense  of  causing  to  pass 
over  or  upon  the  body,  putting  on,  clothing  oneself-  When  ny  is  derived  from  it 
in  this  secondary  and  acquired  signification,  it  then  naturally  denotes  an 
ornament:  whereas  the  plural  noun  ony,  being  derived  from  it  in  its  pri- 
mary or  original  signification,  bears  the  directly  opposite  sense  oi filthy 
rags,  that  is,  rags  Jit  only  to  be  tkroiun  away,  to  be  scattered  to  the  viiyids  and 
the  vieather.  In  a  similar  manner,  the  original  signification  of  the  root  still 
being  kept  in  view,  *-\y  will  mean  a  inultitude  of  fugitives  from  my  to  pass 
(tiuay,  as  »ja>  means  a  multitude  of  captives  from  riau'  to  carry  atuay  captive. 
The  primitive  import  of  the  root  seems,  in  the  progress  of  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage, to  have  been  almost  superseded  by  its  secondary  signification,  in 
which  it  occurs  much  more  frequently  than  in  its  primary  :  but,  in  the  Chal- 
dee  dialect,  the  primary  signification  appears  to  have  been  most  retained,  in 
which  the  word  perpetually  occurs  throughout  the  book  of  Daniel.  It  may 
not  be  amiss  to  observe,  that  the  margin  of  our  bibles  refers  us,  for  the  better 
understanding  of  this  passage,  to  Isaiah  xi.  16.  xix.  2i.  and  xxvii.  13.  in  all  of 
"whicii  the  persons,  who  came  from  Assyria,  are  not  God,  but  the  fugitive  yews. 
The  Chaldee  paraphrast  interprets  it  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  myself. 
'•lUo  tempore  congregabuntur  transmigrationes  ex  Assur  et  civitatibus  forti- 
tudinis."  The  Syriac  version  likewise  conveys  the  same  idea.  "  Dies  est, 
quo  tempus  tuum  veniat  redeundi  ab  Assyria  et  ab  urbibus  munitis."  The  lxx 
must  have  translated  from  a  very  corrupt  copy.  Instead  of  'y\y,  they  have 
read  yrj,  for  their  version  is  cct  zroXeii  ^y- 

Mr  I'arkhurst  ingeniously,  but  perhaps  not  very  judiciously,  refines  upon 
the  text  (Isaiah  Ixiv.  6.},  where  the  plural  word  o^lj)  occurs.  He  would 
translate  it.  We  are  all  as  an  unclean  thing,  and  all  our  righteousnesses  as  agar- 
tnent  of  ornainents,  or  an  ornamental  shewy  garment,  gaudy  perhaps  in  the 
sight  of  men,  but  hypocritical,  and  covering  a  corrupt  heart.  1  scruple  not 
to  say,  that  I  much  prefer  the  common  version,  a  gar  Tnent  of  filthy  rags  i  or, 
as  Buxtorf  well  translates  C3>1]?  with  reference  to  the  primitive  meaning  of 
its  root,  Rcmotiones  ;  res  inquinatx  et  abominahiles,  quae  removentur  et  abji- 
ciuntur.  The  lxx  render  it  foiM<;  ccToy.u.d)jtt.em,  pannus  mulieris  remotae  sive 
seorsim  sedentis,  nempe  propter  impuritatem  menstrualem,  still  however 
preserving  the  original  idea  of  the  root.  Hebrew  poetry  deliglits  in  the  anti- 
thesis of  the  second  clause  of  a  verse  to  the  first.  Novv  the  antithesis 
to  an  unclean  thing  is  surely  not  an  ornamental  garment,  but  a  garment  of 
rags  so  filthy  that  they  are  meet  only  to  be  thrown  away.  The  import  of  the  pas- 
sage is,  that  we  must  acknowledge  ourselves  to  be  unclean,  and  cast  away 
all  our  deeds  of  righteousness,  in  point  of  dependence  upon  tl)eir  merits  for 
our  salvation,  as  we  would  throw  from  us  with  loathing  the  most  filthy  and 
abominable  rags.  See  the  judicious  Hooker's  Discourse  of  Justification, 
Sect.  7.  and  21.  The  two  expressions  of  his  to  which  I  particularly  refer  are 
these  ;  "the  little  fruit  which  we  have  in  holiness,  it  is,  God  knoweth,  cor- 
rupt and  unsound  ;"  and  "to  name  merits  then  is  to  lay  their  souls  upon  the 
rack,  the  memory  of  their  own  deeds  is  loathsome  unto  them,  they  forsake  all 
things  wherein  they  have  put  any  trust  or  confidence."  I  know  not  "any  better 
commentary  on  the  text  in  question. 


325 

liath  been  desolate  ^  because  of  its  inhabitants  t,  for  the 
fruit  of  their  doings. 

14.  ZioN.  Feed  thy  people  with  thy  rod,  the  flock  of 
thine  heritage  which  dwell  solitarily  in  the  wood,  in  the 
midst  of  Carmel :  let  them  feed  in  Bashan  and  Gilead, 
as  in  the  days  of  old  J. 

15.  Jehovah.  According  to  the  days  of  thy  coming 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  §  will  I  shew  unto  them  ||  mar- 
vellous things.  16.  The  nations  shall  see,  and  shall  be 
confounded  at  all  their  might  T[:  they  shall  lay  their  hand 
upon  their  mouth,  their  ears  shall  be  deaf.  17.  They 
shall  lick  the  dust  like  a  serpent ;  they  shall  move  out 
of  their  holes  like  worms  of  the  earth. 

ZioN.  They  shall  be  afraid  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and 
shall  fear  because  of  thee.  18.  Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  trans- 
gression of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage**  ?  He  retaineth 

*  The  land  hath  been  desolate.']  So  the  context  shews,  that  npini  ought  to 
be  rendered,  not  shall  be. 

f  Desolate  because  of  its  inhabitants.]  "The  words  import,  that  the  gene- 
ral restoration  of  the  ^evjs  sliall  not  be  brought  to  pass  till  after  their  land  hath 
lain  desolate  for  some  ages,  as  a  testimony  of  God's  displeasure  against  its 
ancient  inhabitants  for  their  sins,  especially  that  heinous  one  of  rejecting  the 
Messiah."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

i  Let  them  feed  in  Bashan  and  Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of  old.]  *'  The  expres- 
sions denote,  that  the  ^eius  shall  enjoy  full  and  free  possession  of  their  land 
after  their  return  to  it,  with  the  same  security  and  happiness,  with  which 
tliey  possessed  it  in  their  most  flourishing  state  under  the  reigns  of  David 
and  Solomon.     Compare  Zech.  x.  10."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

§  According  to  the  days  of  thy  coming  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.]  •'  The  words 
are  an  answer  to  tlie  prayer  in  the  foregoing  verse  ;  wherein  God  tells  the 
daughter  of  Zion,  that  the  wonders  he  will  perform  in  bringing  back  his  peo- 
ple into  their  own  country  shall  be  as  conspicuous  as  those  which  he  shewed 
in  their  deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  and  giving  them  the  first  possession  of  it." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc.     Compare  Isaiah  xi.  16. 

jf  Iwill shenu  u7ito  thein.]  The  original  word  is,  I  will  shew  unto  him,  that 
is,  the  singular  masculine  noun  of  number  ny  the  tnultitude  of  fugitives.  The 
geniHS  of  our  language,  and  the  manner  in  which  I  had  translated  iiy,  require , 
that  I  shoidd  here  render  the  original  plurally,  not  singularly.  The  Hebrew 
student  will  find  a  continued  use  of  singular  verbs  and  pronouns  in  reference 
to  the  plural  word  nations  considered  collectively,  in  Isaiah  v.  26---30.  Our 
translators  have  sensibly  rendered  them  all  plurally.  Other  similar  passages 
might  without  mucl)  difficulty  be  adduced. 

IT  The  nations  shall  see,  and  shall  be  coifounded  at  all  their  might.]  "  The 
heathen  shall  feel  the  same  confusion  as  men  do  under  a  great  disappoint- 
ment, when  they  sliall  see  tliat  power  and  force  defeated,  which  they  had 
gathered  together  to  oppose  God's  people,  and  hinder  them  from  enjoying 
the  quiet  possession  of  tlieir  land"  (Mr.  Lowth  in  loc).  The  passage  re- 
lates to  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichri.?tian  faction. 

**  The  reTnnant  of  his  heritage.]  "  The  remnant  of  God's  heritage  are  those 
yeijs,  which  are  reserved  to  be  partakers  of  the  benefits  which  shall  be  made 


326 

not  his  anger  for  ever,  because  he  delighteth  in  mercy. 
19.  He  will  turn  again :  he  will  have  compassion  upon 
us :  he  will  subdue  our  iniquities :  and  thou  wilt  cast 
all  their  iniquities  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  20.  Thou 
wilt  perform  the  truth  to  Jacob,  and  the  mercy  to  Abra- 
ham, which  thou  hast  sworn  unto  our  fathers  from  the 
days  of  old. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  form  of  this  prophecy  seems  to  be  dramatic :  I 
conceive  it  to  be  a  dialogue  between  the  daughter  of  Zion 
and  the  Lord.  The  afflicted  and  desolate  church  of  Israel 
bewails  her  state  in  the  days  of  her  dispersion,  comparing 
it  to  the  gathering  in  of  the  summer-fruits  and  the  glean- 
ing of  the  grapes  in  the  vintage,  so  that  no  whole  cluster 
can  be  seen,  nothing  being  left  except  a  few  straggling 
berries.  She  looks  forward  however  in  hope  to  the  next 
season ;  and  her  soul  desireth  the  first  ripe  fruit  of  the 
approaching  autumn,  when  the  mystic  vine,  which  now 
appears  dry  and  sapless,  shall  again  exult  in  its  luxuri- 
ance, and  be  weighed  downi  with  the  abundance  of  its 
clusters.  Meanwhile  she  calls  upon  her  enemy,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Babylon^  not  to  rejoice  against  her  and  to  triumph 
over  her  ;  professing  her  belief,  that,  although  the  indig- 
nation of  the  Lord  presses  heavily  upon  her  on  account 
of  her  sins,  she.  shall  arise  when  she  falleth,  and  shall  be- 
ho  •  the  shame  of  her  enemy. 

God  replies,  that,  in  the  day  when  her  walls  are  built, 
the  decree  of  her  di^gpersion  shall  be  far  removed  :  that 
her  long-lost  sons  shall  come  unto  her  from  Assyria, 
from  the  utmost  regions  of  the  sea,  from  every  fortress, 
from  every  mountain,  from  all  the  countries  whither 
they  have  been  scattered :  and  he  adds,  that  her  land  has 
lain  desolate  as  a  just  punishment  for  the  wickedness  of 
the  inhabitants. 

Encouraged  by  this  gracious  promise,  the  church  of 
Israel  prays  her  Lord  to  feed  his  people,  the  flock  of  his 
heritage,  with  his  rod,  as  he  was  wont  to  do  in  the  days 
of  old. 

g-ood  to  that  nation  tipon  their  conversion  and  restoration  here  spoken  of." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  lor. 


327 

(Jrod  returns  for  answer,  that,  as  he  formerly  brought 
her  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will  he  yet  shew 
unto  her  dispersed  children  marvellous  things :  and  he 
declares,  that  the  nations,  which  dare  to  oppose  their  re- 
turn and  to  set  themselves  in  array  against  the  Almighty, 
shall  be  so  humbled,  that  such  as  escape  in  the  day  of 
his  wrath  shall  lick  the  dust  like  serpents,  and  like 
worms  shall  scarcely  venture  to  crawl  out  of  their  holes. 

The  church  of  Israel^  now  fully  satisfied  respecting 
her  future  restoration,  takes  up  the  words  of,  the  Lord, 
and  exclaims,  that  they  shall  surely  be  afraid  of  Jehovah 
her  God,  that  they  shall  fear  because  of  him.  She  then 
praises  him  for  all  his  goodness :  and  expresses  her  entire 
conviction,  that  he  will  perform  the  oath  w^hich  he  had 
sworn  unto  her  fathers. 


PROPHECY  XXXVI. 

The  dispersion  of  the  Jews — The  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans — The  call  of  the  converted  Jews — Their  triumphant 
settlement  in  their  own  land — The  destruction  of  the  mystic 
Nineveh — The  prevalence  of  pure  religion — The  instrumentality 
of  some  great  maritime  nation  in  restoring  the  Jevv^s, 

Zephaniah  i.  2.  I  will  utterly  consume  all  things  from 
off  the  land,  saith  the  Lord.  3.  I  will  consume  man  and 
beast ;  I  will  consume  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  the 
fishes  of  the  sea ;  and  the  stumbling-blocks  with  the 
wicked ;  and  I  will  cut  off  man  from  off  the  land,  saith 
the  Lord.  4.  I  will  also  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon 
Judah,  and  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  1 
will  cut  off  the  remnant  of  Baal  from  this  place,  and  the 
name  of  the  offerers  by  fire  with  the  priests ;  5.  And 
them  that  worship  the  host  of  heaven  upon  the  house- 
tops. /  tvill  cut  off  both  them  that  worship  and  swear 
by  the  Lord,  even  swear  by  their  king*;   6.  And  them 

•  Their  iing.']  Our  translators  take  qdSd  to  be  the  proper  name  of  an  idol, 
and  therefore  read  Malclia-in :  but  I  much  prefer  the  rendering  of  the  Ixx 
r«  fi^i-riXeai  ctvlm^  and  that  of  the  Latin  version  of  tlie  Arabic  per  rcgem 
■iuum,  supposing  their  king  to  mean  yehovah.  Such  a  translation  seems  to  me 
both  more  accordant  with  the  context,  and  more  airrecable  to  the  construe- 


328 

that  are  turned  back  from  the  Lord,  and  have  not  sought 
the  Lord,  nor  inquired  for  him. 

7.  Hold  thy  peace  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God  : 
for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand,  for  the  Lord  hath  pre- 
pared a  sacrifice,  he  hath  bid  his  guests.  8.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  sacrifice,  that  I 
will  punish  the  princes,  and  the  king's  children,  and  all 
such  as  are  clothed  in  the  apparel  of  strangers  *.  10.  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  that 
there  shall  be  the  noise  of  a  cry  from  the  fish- gate,  and  a 
howling  from  the  second  city  f,  and  a  great  .crashing 
from  the  hills  %•  IL  Howl,  ye  inhabitants  of  the  valley  ^, 
for  all  the  Canaanitish  people  are  cut  down ;  all  they 
that  bear  silver  are  cut  off.  12.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
at  that  time,  that  I  will  search  Jerusalem  with  candles, 
and  punish  the  men  that  are  settled  on  their  lees ;  that 
say  in  their  heart,  The  Lord  will  not  do  good,  neither 
will  he  do  evil.  18.  Therefore  their  goods  shall  be- 
come a  boot}'-,  and  their  houses  a  desolation :  for  they 
have  built  houses,  but  they  shall  not  inhabit  them ;  and 

tion  of  the  two  clauses  in  the  orig'inal,  both  of  which  are  emphatically  mark- 
ed by  an  pK.     As  thus  :   Both  (nxi")  them  that  'worship  and  swear  by  the  Lord, 
even  swear  by  their  king  ;  and  (nKl)  them  that  are  turned  back  from  the  Lord. 
t>  *  Clothed  in  the  apparel  of  strangers.']     Affecting  the  manners  and  habits  of 
Gentiles,  the  Hellenizing party  among  the  ye^us. 

f  The  second  city.]  In  the  whole  of  tliis  passage,  Jerusalem  is  very  graphi- 
cally described.  It  consisted  of  two  cities  ;  the  old,  and  the  new.  One  of 
these,  in  opposition  to  the  other,  was  called  Mishnah  or  the  second  city  (See 
Well's  Geog.  of  O.  and  N.  Test.  Vol.  II.  P.  23,  24.).  It  was  in  this  secotidcity, 
that  Huldah  the  prophetess  dwelt.  Our  translators  have  singularly  rendered 
it  college.  See  2  Kings  xxii.  14.  and  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  22.  In  the  first  of  these 
passages,  the  Ixx  merely  transcribe  the  Hebrew  word,  writing  it  Mxcivoc. 
In  the  second  they  do  the  same,  writing  it  with  some  little  variation  Mcto-xvxi. 
In  the  present  passage  of  Zephaniah,  they  simply  translate  it  arra  rtn  J'st/- 
lipxi,  from  the  second.  In  a  similar  manner  the  Vulgate,  asecunda:  the  Latin 
translation  of  the  Syriac,  ab  altera:  and  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Arabic, 
e  secunda. 

t  A  great  crashing  from  the  hills.']  "  From  the  mountains  of  Zion  and  Mo- 
riah,  whereon  the  temple  and  the  king's  palace  was  built.  See  2  Chron.  iii.  1." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

§  Te  inhabitants  of  the  valley.]  Michtash'm  the  Chaldee  Targum  is  rendered 
the  brook  or  torrent  of  Kedron.  This  brook  was  near  the  fish-gate.  The  pas- 
sage therefore  ')nay  relate  to  those  loho  lived  in  the  valley  through  'uhich  tint 
brook  fio-j:ed.  But  I  am  more  inclined  to  think  with  Castell,  tliat  Michtash 
means  the  valley,  luhich  (according  to  Josephus's  description  of  Jerusalem} 
divided  the  upper  Jrom.  the  lower  city.  See  Joseph.  Ant.  L.  v.  C.  4.  §  1.  Park- 
hurst's  Heb.  Lex.  Vox  cnao.  and  Well's  Geog.  Vol.  II.  P.  28,  29,  30.  and  thr 
map  of  Jerusalem  at  P.  23- 


329 

they  have  planted  vineyards,  but  shall  not  drink  the  wine, 
thereof. 

14.  The  great  day  of  the  Lord  is  near ;  it  is  near,  and 
hasteth  greatly  :  the  voice  of  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  bit- 
ter :  there  the  mighty  one  roareth  aloud.  15.  That  day 
is  a  day  of  wrath,  a  day  of  trouble  and  distress,  a  day  of 
wasteness  and  desolation,  a  day  of  darkness  and  gloomi- 
ness, a  day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness,  16.  A  dav  of 
the  trumpet  and  alarm  against  the  fenced  cities  and  against 
the  high  towers.  17.  And  I  will  bring  distress  upon 
men,  that  they  shall  walk  like  blind  men,  because  they" 
have  sinned  against  the  Lord  :  and  their  blood  shall  be 
poured  out  as  dust,  and  their  flesh  as  the  dung.  18.  Nei- 
ther their  silver  nor  their  gold  shall  be  able  to  deliver 
them  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  wrath;  but  the  whole 
earth  shall  be  devoured  by  the  fire  of  his  jealousy  :  for 
he  shall  make  even  a  speedy  riddance  of  all  them  that 
dwell  in  the  earth. 

ii.  1.  Gather  yourselves  together,  yea,  gather  toge- 
ther, O  nation  not  desired.  2.  Before  the  decree,  bring 
forth,  before  the  day  pass  as  the  chaff,  before  the  fierce 
anger  of  the  Lord  come  upon  you,  before  the  day  of  the 
Lord's  anger  come  upon  you.  3.  Seek  ye  the  Lord,  all 
ye  meek  of  the  earth,  which  have  wrought  his  judgment; 
seek  righteousness,  seek  meekness  :  it  may  be  ye  shall 
be  hid  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  anger.  4.  For  Gaza  shall 
be  forsaken,  and  Ashkelon  a  desolation — 5. — O  Canaan, 
the  land  of  the  Philistines,  I  will  even  destroy  thee,  that 
there  shall  be  no  inhabitant. — 7.  And  the  coast  shall  be 
for  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Judah  ;  they  shall  feed 
thereupon :  in  the  houses  of  Ashkelon  shall  they  lie  down 
in  the  evening  :  for  the  Lord  their  God  shall  visit  them, 
and  bring  back  their  captivity  * — 9.  As  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  Surely  Moab  shall  be 
as  Sodom,  and  the  children  of  Ammon  as  Gomorrah  r — 
the  residue  of  my  people  shall  spoil  them,  and  the  rem- 
nant of  my  people  shall  possess  them  f — 11.  The  Lord 

*  Their  captivity.']  A  noun  of  number,  meaning",  as  elsewhere,  the  mul- 
titude of  their  captives, 

f  The  remnant  of  my  people  shall  possess  them,']  Though  Mr.  Lowth  refers 
this  passage  primarily  to  the  conquests  of  the  Macabees,  he  allows  that  "  this 
and  the  seventh  verse  will  receive  their  utmost  completion  at  the  general  res  - 
42 


330 

will  be  terrible  unto  them :  for  he  will  famish  all  the  gods 
of  the  earth;  and  men  shall  worship  him,  everyone  from 
his  place ;  all  the  isles  of  the  nations.  12.  Ye  Cuthini 
also,  ye  shall  be  slain  by  my  sword. 

13.  And  he  will  stretch  out  his  hand  against  the  north, 
and  destroy  Assyria  :  and  will  make  Nineveh  a  desola- 
tion, and  dry  like  a  wilderness.  14.  And  flocks  shall  lie 
down  in  the  midst  of  her,  all  the  beasts  of  the  nations  ; 
both  the  cormorant  and  the  bittern  shall  lodge  in  her  upper 
lintels  ;  their  voice  shall  sing  in  the  windows ;  desolation 
shall  be  in  the  thresholds :  for  he  shall  uncover  the  cedar- 
work.  15.  This  is  the  exulting  city,  that  dwelt  in  confi- 
dent security ;  that  said  in  her  heart,  I  am  she,  and  there 
is  none  beside  me.  How  is  she  become  a  desolation,  a 
place  for  beasts  to  lie  down  in!  Every  one,  that  passeth 
by  her,  shall  hiss  and  wag  his  hand.  iii.  1.  Woe  to  her 
that  swelleth  with  pride,  and  yet  is  polluted !  rvoe  to  tlie 
city  of  the  dove  !  2.  She  obeyed  not  the  voice ;  she  re- 
ceived not  correction  ;  she  trusted  not  in  the  Lord ;  she 
drew  not  near  to  her  God.  3.  Her  princes  within  her 
are  roaring  lions  ;  her  judges  are  wolves  of  the  evening, 
they  finish  not  until  the  morning.  4.  Her  prophets  are 
licentiously  extravagant,  hypocritical  men:  her  priests 
have  polluted  the  sanctuary,  they  have  done  violence  to 
the  law.  5.  The  just  Lord  is  in  the  midst  of  her ;  he 
will  not  do  iniquity  :  morning  by  morning  will  he  bring 
his  judgment  to  light ;  he  will  not  fail :  but  the  unjust 
knoweth  no  shame.  6.  I  have  cut  off  the  nations  :  their 
towers  are  desolate :  I  made  their  streets  waste,  that 
none  passeth  by :  their  cities  are  destroyed,  so  that  there 
is  no  man,  that  there  is  none  inhabitant.  7.  I  said,  sure- 
ly thou  wilt  fear  me,  thou  wilt  receive  instruction ;  and 
her  dwelling-place  shall  not  entirely  be  cut  off,  inasmuch 
as  I  have  visited  her.  Yet  they  rose  early,  and  corrupted 
all  their  doings. 

8.  Therefore  wait  ye  for  me  *,  saith  the  Lord,  until 
the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey :  for  my  determination 

toratlon  of  the  Jewish  nation.  Those,  that  then  escape  and  return  from  thcii* 
several  dispersions,  are  elsewhere  called  by  the  name  of  the  residue  and  the 
rennmnt.    Compare  chap.  iii.  13.  and  Micah  iv.  7"     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

*  Thertfure  wait  je/or  one.']     "  I  exhort  tlie  godly  among-  you  to  expect  the 
fulfilling  of  the  promises  1  have  made  of  restoring  the  Jewish  nation  to  my 


V 


331 

is  to  gather  the  nations,*  to  assemble  unto  me  tlie  kinr-- 
doms,  to  pour  upon  them  my  indignation,  even  all  mv 
fieree  anger ;  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  devoured  with  the 
fire  of  my  jealousy. 

9.  But  then  will  I  turn  unto  the  peoples  a  pure  religi- 
ous confession  f,  that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  that  they  may  serve  him  with  one  consent. 

10.  My  worshippers,  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush:{:, 
shall  conduct,  as  an  offering  to  me,  the  daughter  of  my 
dispersion  ^.  11.  In  that  day  thou  shalt  not  be  ashamed 
for  all  thy  doings  wherein  thou  hast  transgressed  against 
me  :  for  then  will  I  take  away  out  of  the  midst  of  thee 
them  that  exult  in  thy  pride,  and  thou  shalt  no  more  be 
haughty  in  my  holy  mountain.  12.  I  will  also  leave  in 
the  midst  of  thee  a  humble  and  poor  people ;  and  they 
shall  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  13.  The  remnant  of 
Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity  || ,  nor  speak  lies  ;  neither 
shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be  found  in  their  mouth :  for 
they  shall  feed,  and  lie  down  ;  and  none  shall  make  them 
afraid.  14.  Sing,  O  daughter  ofZion;  shout,  O  Israel; 
be  glad,  and  rejoice  with  all  thy  heart,  O  daughter  of 
Jerusalem.  15.  The  Lord  hath  taken  away  thy  judg- 
ments; he  hath  cast  out  thine  enemy  :  the  king  of  Israel, 
the  Lord,  is  in  the  midst  of  thee  :  thou  shalt  not  see  evil 

wonted  favour  in  the  latter  ag-es  of  the  world  :  in  order  to  which  great  crisis, 
I  will  execute  remarkable  judgments  upon  the  unbelievers  and  disobedient." 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

*  My  determination  is  to  gather  the  nations.']  "  This  may  perhaps  be  meant 
of  the  same  general  summons  which  Joel  speaks  of,  when  the  nations  shall 
be  gathered  into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat"  (Mr.  Lowth  in  loc).  Mr.  Lowth, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  rightly  refers  the  general  summons,  mentioned  by 
.Joel,  to  the  last  ages  and  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  jfe^ws. 

j"  I  will  turn  unto  the  peoples  a  pure  religious  confession.]  "  1  will  turn  them 
from  their  idolatry  and  other  wickedness  to  glorify  me  with  one  mind  and 
one  mouth.  The  same  thhig  is  expressed  hy  speaking  the  language  of  Canaan 
(Isaiah  xis.  18.).  This  is  a  blessing  reserved  for  the  latter  ages,  after  the 
conversion  of  the  ycivs  and  the  Gentiles,  when  there  shall  be  one  Lord,  and  his 
name  one.     Zech.  xiv.  9."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

+  My  ivorshippers  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cusli]  This  passage  plainly  relates 
to  the  same  people  as  that  described  in  Isaiah  xvili.  1,  7.  I  have  adopted 
Bp.  Horsley's  translation  of  it,  which  I  am  persuaded  is  the  true  one  (See 
his  letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  p.  102,  103.).  Mr  Lowth  justly  refers  this  passage 
to  the  restoration  ofthe  jews,  though  he  retains  the  common  translation. 

§  Dispersion.]     A  noun  of  number,  meaning  the  dispersed. 
fl  The  remnant  of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity.]  "  The  remnant  of  Israel  shaW 
he  holy,  the  rebels  being  purged  out  of  them.    See  Ezek,  xx.  58."     Mr.  Lowth 
in  loc. 


332 

any  more.  16.  In  that  clay  it  shall  be  said  to  Jerusalem, 
Fear  thou  not ;  and  to  Zion,  Let  not  thine  hands  be 
slack.  17.  The  Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is 
mighty:  he  will  save;  he  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy: 
lie  will  rest  in  his  lo^e ;  he  will  joy  over  thee  with  sing- 
ing  

19.  Behold,  at  that  time  I  will  undo  all  that  afflict 
thee :  and  I  will  save  her  that  halteth,  and  gather  her 
that  was  driven  out :  and  I  will  get  them  praise  and 
fame  in  every  land  where  they  have  been  put  to  shame. 
20.  At  that  time,  I  will  bring  you  again,  even  in  the  time 
that  I  gather  you  :  for  I  will  make  you  a  name  and  a 
praise  among  all  people  of  the  earth  ;  when  I  turn  back 
your  captivity  before  your  eyes,  saith  the  Lord. 

COMMENTARY. 

I  wish  not  to  deny,  that  Zephaniah  may  be  considered 
as  here  predicting  the  Bahijlonian  captivity  of  Judah^  the 
sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  i^haldeajis^  and  the  destruction 
of  the  literal  Nineveh^  together  with  some  of  the  conquests 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  *.  But  I  think,  that  the  whole  con- 
text of  the  prophecy  decidedly  forbids  us  to  limit  it  to 
those  events  ;  compels  us  to  believe,  that  in  them  it 
received  only  an  inchoate  accomplishment ;  and  directs 
us  to  look  for  its  ultimate  completion  to  the  last  disper- 
sion of  Judah^  to  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  jRo- 
7nans^  and  to  the  yet  future  day  in  which  Antichrist  will 
be  overthrown  and  the  cofwerted  of  Judah  restored  by 
the  instru7nentality  of  .some  great  maritijne  iiation.  In 
fact,  the  prophecy  contains  many  matters  which  must 
be  exclusively  thus  referred :  and  yet  those  matters  are 
so  interwoven  into  the  very  body  of  the  prediction, 
that  they  cannot  with  any  propriety  be  considered  in  an 
insulated  state.  As  tlie  inchoate  accomplishment  of  the 
prophecy  comes  not  within  the  limits  of  my  plan,  I 
shall  confine  myself  to  what  I  believe  will  be  its  ultimate 
accomplishment ;  premising,  that  Mr.  Lowth  tliinks  like 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  IX.— Mr,  Lowth  in  loc— and  Dr.  Gray's 
ijey,  p.  482— 485. 


333 

myself,  that  many  parts  of  it  are  to  be  referred  to  the  last 
ages  for  their  full  completion*. 

The  prophet  begins  with  foretelling  the  captivity  of 
the  Jews^  primarily  alluding  to  the  Babylonian  captivity^ 
but  ultimately  directing  our  attention  to  that  into  which 
they  were  led  by  the  Romans.  He  introduces  the  Lord 
solemnly  declaring,  that  he  will  utterly  consume  all  things 
from  off  the  land,  both  man  and  beast,  both  fish  and  fowl ; 
and  repeating,  as  if  particularly  to  engage  our  notice,  that 
he  will  cut  off  mmi  from  off  the  land^.  The  whole  of 
this  threat  plainly  denotes,  that  there  should  be,  what 
another  prophet  styles,  a  great  forsaking  in  the  midst  of 
the  land  of  Judea  j.  After  this  general  denunciation,  the 
Lord  proceeds  to  particulars.  He  divides  the  men  of 
Judah  and  Jerusalem  into  two  classes  ;  and,  inasmuch  as 
they  have  both  grievously  siimed  though  in  very  diiferent 
manners,  he  threatens  that  he  will  stretch  out  his  hand 
upon  them  all.  They  who  worsliip  Baal  and  the  host 
of  heaven,  turning  back  from  the  Lord  or  apostatizing 
from  him,  and  not  seeking  and  inquiring  for  him ;  and 
they,  who  Worship  and  swear  by  the  Lord,  even  swear 
by  their  king :  all  these  shall  alike  experience  the  divine 
vengeance.  Hence  it  is  plain,  since  the  worshippers  of 
Jehovah  are  thus  involved  in  one  common  fate  with 
the  worshippers  of  Baal,  and  since  God  himself  equally 
represents  the  punishment  of  both  as  being  a  judicial 
infliction,  that  these  worshippei's  of  Jehovah  could  not 
have  Avorshipped  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  but  that 
their  worship,  although  untainted  with  idolatr}-,  was 
nevertheless  an  abomination  unto  him. 

This  double  description  exactly  accords  with  the  state 
of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  our  Lord's  first  advent.  Part 
of  them  were  idolaters ;  and  part  of  them,  while  they 
abhorred  idolatry,  and  worshipped  the  true  God,  yet 
made  void  the  law  by  their  traditions,  and  rejected  the 
promised  Messiah.     The  existence  of  this  second  class 

*  See  the  preceding  notes  on  the  prophecy  itself  extracted  from  Mr. 
Lowth's  commentary. 

f  These  words,  as  well  as  the  whole  passage,  shew,  that  a  dispersion  of 
yudah  is  here  predicted.  I  cannot,  with  Dr.  Gray,  limit  the  prophecy  to 
the  mere  extirpation  of  idolatry  by  Josiah. 

i  Isaiah  \'i,  12. 


334 

requires  no  proof;  and,  as  for  the  first,  "  It  is  said  in- 
deed, that,  after  the  return  from  Babylon,  the  Jews  scru- 
pulously avoided  idolatry,  and  have  continued  untainted 
with  it  to  this  day.  But,  generally  as  this  is  asserted 
by  all  commentators,  one  after  another,  it  is  not  true. 
Among  the  restored  Jews  there  was  indeed  no  public 
idolatry,  patronized  by  the  government,  as  there  had 
been  in  times  before  the  captivity,  particularly  in  the 
reign  of  Ahaz.  But,  from  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epi- 
phanes  to  the  last  moments  of  the  Jewish  polity,  there 
was  a  numerous  and  powerful  faction,  which  in  every 
thing  affected  the  Greek  manners ;  and  this  Hellenising 
party  were  idolaters  to  a  man  *."  Both  these  classes 
are  equally  threatened  by  the  Lord,  and  were  equally 
carried  away  captive,  when  his  righteous  judgment  cut 
off  man^  that  is  the  whole  multitude  of  the  people,  from 
off  the  land. 

From  this  description  of  the  state  of  the  Jexvs  at  the 
era  of  their  dispersion  by  the  Romans,  Zephaniah  pro- 
ceeds to  foretell  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus.  And 
first  he  announces,  that  he  is  about  to  treat  of  the  great 
sacrifice,  and  the  great  day,  of  the  Lord.  In  the  prophe- 
tic language,  a  sacrifice  is  very  frequently  used  to  typify 
a  great  slaughter  ;  and  by  the  day  of  the  Lord  we  are 
generally  to  understand  the  day  either  of  the  first  or  second 
advent.  Here  the  day  of  the  first  advent  is  intended, 
which  is  considered  as  including  within  itself  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  politij 
by  the  Romans^.  Zephaniah  declares,  that  at  that  time 
there  shall  be  a  cry  from  the  fish-gate,  and  a  great  crash- 
ing from  the  hills,  and  a  howling  from  that  part  of  Jeru- 
salem which  was  called  Mishnah  or  the  second  city  :  that 
those,  who  dwelt  in  the  valley  or  deep  glen  which  divides 
the  upper  city  from  the  lower  city  shall  howl,  inasmuch 
as  the  metaphorical  Canaanites  or  the  idolatrous  Hellenists 
are  cut  off"$  :  that  the  Lord  will  search  Jerusalem  with 

*  Bp.  Horsley's  Hosea,  p.  8. 

f  See  Matt.  xxiv.  15—28.  I  have  already  observed,  that,  when  the  pro 
phecy  is  considered  as  primarily  relating-  to  the  Babylonian  captivity,  this 
siege  of  yerusaletn  must  mean  its  siege  by  the  Chaldeans. 

+  "  The  original  reads  the  people  of  Canaan,  which  word  sigTiifies  a  tnerchant 
(Hos.  xii.  7-)  ;  but  the  Chaldee  understands  it  of  those  who  resemble  th& 


335 

candles,  and  punish  the  men  that  are  settled  on  their  lees, 
or  the  Saducean  Jews,  who  had  adopted  the  Epicurean 
maxim,  that  God  will  not  do  good  neither  will  he  do 
evil,  that  he  does  not  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  this  world 
but  leaves  every  thing  to  chance,  and  that  the  sacred 
volume  itself  is  little  better  than  a  gross  imposture  :  last- 
ly he  declares,  that  they  shall  be  pillaged  by  the  troops 
of  that  very  nation,  to  the  fear  of  incurring  whose  dis- 
pleasure they  had  sacrificed  the  promised  Messiah*; 
and  shall  behold  the  houses  which  they  had  built,  and 
the  vineyards  which  they  had  planted,  become  a  desola- 
tion. In  the  great  day  of  the  Lord,  a  day  of  the  trumpet 
and  alarm  against  the  fenced  cities,  neither  their  silver 
nor  their  gold  shall  be  able  to  deliver  them ;  but  they 
shall  suffer  severe  distress,  because  they  have  presump- 
tuously sinned  against  the  Most  High. 

As  the  prophecy  was,  so  was  its  ncr.omplishment.  At 
the  very  time  when,  as  Josephus  tells  us,  it  was  no  un- 
common thing  to  hear  his  hardened  countrymen  ridicule 
the  oracles  of  their  ancient  prophets,  and  plunge  into  all 
the  impieties  of  Saducean  infidelity  f ;  God  brought  great 
distress  upon  them,  so  that  they  walked  like  blind  men. 
Within  they  were  torn  by  the  madness  of  civil  war; 
without  they  were  pressed  by  a  powerful  and  unrelenting 
enemy.  So  that  their  blood  was  poured  out  as  dust,  and 
their  flesh  as  the  dung  ;  it  being  computed  by  their  own 
historian  Josephus,  that  eleven  hundred  thousand  perish- 
ed in  the  siege,  besides  those  who  were  slain  in  other 
places  X. 

Having  foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
dispersion  of  the  Jews,  the  prophet  next  calls  our  atten- 
tion to  their  restoration  and  to  other  matters  connected 
nvith  it.     He  raises  his  voice  on  high ;  and  loudly  com- 

Canaanites  in  their  idolatries  and  corrupt  manners  :  so  Jndah's  mother  is 
called  an  Hittite,  and  her  father  an  Amorite,  because  they  did  after  the  works 
of  the  Canaanites,  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  land.  Ezek.  xvi.  45."  Mr, 
Lowth  in  loo. 

•  John  xi.  48. 

t  KxtltTTctliOo  jttfy  «y  ztok;  av'Joig  Sic-fMi  ccidpuTruv,  tyeXetlo  oe  rx  6itct,  KXi 
rag  T«v  'srpo(pij}uv  fiee-f^m  arrrep  ccyvprtKUi;  PioyoTp*. •.'}«?  f^Aefafsv.  Joseph- 
de  bell.  Jud.  L.  iv.  C.  6. 

■i-  Joseph,  de  bell.  Jud.  L.  vi.  C.  9.  Sect.  8, 


336 

inands  a  nation  not  des'wed  to  gather  themselves  together, 
ere  the  decree  conceive  Avrath  and  bring  forth  trouble, 
ere  the  day  of  the  Lord's  anger  come  upon  them :  he 
exhorts  all  the  meek  of  the  earth  to  seek  the  Lord,  that 
they  may  be  hid  in  the  day  of  his  fierce  anger.  By  the 
nation  ?iot  desired  I  understand  the  long  despised,  but  at 
leyigth  converted  Jeivs  ;  and  by  all  the  meek  of  the  earth, 
both  the  Jewish  converts,  and  their  protectors  the  mari- 
titne  ?iatio?i  of  faithful  worshippers.  The  exhortation  of 
the  prophet  is,  that  they  should  hide  themselves,  that 
they  should  not  presume  to  interfere  in  the  day  of  the 
Lord's  vengeance,  but  that  they  should  leave  it  to.  him 
to  decide  his  own  controversy  with  the  faction  of  Anti- 
ehrist  *^.  Ho\A'ever  he  may  in  an  inferior  degree  employ 
them  as  instiiimentst,  by  the  supernatural  interference 
of  his  own  right  arm  he  will  get  himself  the  victory. 

Previous  however  to  Zephaniah's  more  fully  prcdict- 
irig  these  matters,  he  tells  us,  that  God  will  destroy  the 
Philistines,  and  give  their  coast  to  the  remnant  of  the 
house  of  Judah :  that  he  will  turn  the  captivity  of  his 
people,  and  that  in  the  allegorical  evening  of  their  national 
existence  they  shall  lie  down  in  the  houses  of  Ashkelon : 
that  they  shall  spoil  Moab  and  Ammon,  and  shall  take 
their  land  into  their  possession :  that  idolatry  shall  be 
for  ever  abolished ;  that  men  shall  worship  God  in  all 
the  isles  of  the  nations ;  and  that  the  Cuthites  shall  be 
slain  by  his  sword.  All  these  particulai's  are  similarly 
predicted  by  Isaiah  as  about  to  happen  at  the  era  of  the 
restoration  of  Israel.  The  ancient  people  of  God  are  to 
fly  along  the  coast  of  the  Philistines  towards  the  west ; 
they  are  to  spoil  those  of  the  east  together.  Moab  and 
Ammon,  or  the  nations  which  shall  then  possess  their 
territories  $,  are  to  obey  themjl.  The  Cushim,  or  the 
Egyptians  who  inhabit  tlie  banks  of  the  Cushean  streams 
of  the  Nile,  aie  to  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  a  fierce 

*  It  is  rig^ht  to  observe,  that  Mr.  Lowth  Interprets  this  part  of  the  jn-ophecy 
differently  from  myself;  but  tlie  subsequent  context  induces  me  to  prefer  my 
own  exposition,  more  especially  since  he  allows  that  a  part  of  that  context 
will  not  receive  its  full  completion  until  the  lastajes.  See  his  note  on  Zeph- 
ii.  9.  cited  above. 

I  Zech.  xii.  6.  Micah  iv.  13. 

^  These  had  escaped  out  of  the  liand  of  Antichrist,  Dan.  xi.  41. 

?!  Isaiah  xi.  14-. 


k'mg^  to  be  compelled  humbly  to  attend  his  footsteps, 
and  to  be  smitten  as  by  the  Lord  himself-^.  And,  when 
the  restoration  of  Israel  is  completed,  all  nations  are  to 
worship  in  the  holy  mountain  of  Zion  f- 

But  there  is  one  great  enemy  of  the  I-iord,  one  remai'k- 
able  persecutor  of  the  Church,  whose  destruction  at  this 
wonderful  period  is  w^ith  united  voice  celebrated  by  the 
ancient  prophets.  This  great  enemy  is  sometimes  mys- 
tically denominated  Edom ;  at  other  times,  Babylon^  or 
Tyre.  From  Daniel  and  St.  John  we  learn,  that  it  is  the 
fourth  beast,  or  the  Roman  empire,  both  ecclesiastical 
and  civil,  in  its  last  form,  or  under  its  last  head;  that 
is  to  say,  as  recent  events  have  shewn,  under  the  civil 
domination  of  Antichrist  united  with  the  spiritual  domi- 
nation of  the  papal  man  of  si?i.  Zephaniah  styles  it  JVi- 
neveh,  which  was  the  capital  of  the  first  Assyrian  empire: 
and,  while  he  predicts  the  fate  of  the  literal  Nineveh, 
he  interweaves  with  his  prophecy  various  circumstances 
which  are  only  applicable  to  the  mystical  Nineveh  ;  and 
directs  us  to  look  for  the  final  accomplishment  of  it  to 
the  day  xvhen  the  nations  are  gathered  together,  to  the 
day  of  the  Lord'^s  vengeance,  to  tlie  day  xvhen  the  daugh- 
ter of  his  dispersion  is  brought  back  by  his  faithful  mari- 
time -Lvorshippers  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush. 

The  beginning  of  this  part  of  the  prophecy,  ^vhich 
primarily  relates  to  the  literal  Nineveh,  may  be  compared 
with  the  opening  of  the  ISth  chapter  of  the  Revelation : 
all  the  rest  of  it  can  only  relate  to  the  mystical  Nineveh. 
I  consider  the  first  verse  of  the  3d  chapter  of  Zephaniah, 
as  immediately  connected  with  the  last  verse  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapter;  so  immediately  indeed,  that  they  ought 
both  to  be  included  in  the  same  paragraph  :  accordingly 
I  have  thus  arranged  them  in  my  transcript  of  the  pro- 
phecy. The  city,  mentioned  in  the  one  verse,  is,  I  think, 
the  same  as  the  city,  mentioned  in  the  other  verse  :  the 
exulting  city  that  boasts  of  her  superiority  over  all  others 
is  the  city  that  swelleth  with  pride  and  yet  is  polluted. 

*  See  Isaiah  xl.  15.  xix.4,  20,  22.  "  He  shall  have  power— over  all  the 
precious  things  of  Egypt ;  and  the  Lubim  and  the  Cushlm  shall  be  at  his 
steps."     Dan.  xi.  43. 

\  Isajah  ii.  1—5,  et  alibi. 

43 


Our  transiators  have  indeed  supposed,  that  the  city,  men- 
tioned in  the  third  chapter,  is  Jerusalem :  but  the  whole 
context  of  the  prophecy  seems  to  me  to  shew,  that  JVijie- 
veh,  not  Jerusalem,  is  intended.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  here 
foretelling  not  the  dispersion  ofJudah,  but  his  restoration ; 
not  the  downfal  of  Jerusalem,  but  of  Nineveh  and  the 
assembled  nations.  This  will  sufficiently  appear  to  any 
person,  who  attentively  reads  the  whole  of  the  third  chapter 
in  connection  with  the  latter  end  of  the  second.  Nothing 
indeed,  I  am  persuaded,  could  have  given  rise  to  such 
an  opinion,  except  the  arbitrary  division  of  chapters,  and 
the  mention  of  prophets  and  priests  and  a  sanctuary  as 
all  appertaining  to  the  polluted  city. 

Zephaniah  himself  however,  unless  I  be  greatly  mis- 
taken, puts  the  matter  out  of  all  doUbt  by  describing  in 
a  very  remarkable  manner  the  city  mentioned  in  the  third 
chapter.  Our  translators  speak  of  it  as  the  oppressing 
city  ;  and  such  no  doubt  it  is :  yet  neither  does  this  cha- 
racter accord  with  that  of  Jerusalem,  which  was  notori- 
ously an  oppressed  not  an  oppressing  city,  a  city  succes- 
sively oppressed  by  the  iron  rod  of  foreign  tyrants  ;  nor 
does  Zephaniah,  I  apprehend,  mean  thus  to  designate  it 
in  the  words  which  he  here  uses.  He  had  already  repre- 
sented it  as  a  city  swelling  -with  pride  and  deeply  polluted, 
a  city  exalting  itself  above  all  other  cities ;  whence  it 
would  appear  somewhat  tautological  and  unnecessary  to 
style  it  the  oppressing  city,  which  is  an  idea  plainly  in- 
volved in  what  he  said  before  respecting  it.  Instead 
therefore  oLthe  oppressing  city,  I  translate  his  words  the 
city  of  the  dove,  and  consider  them  as  allusive  to  a  well- 
known  object  of  worship  among  the  Assyrians.  And 
in  this  translation  I  find  myself  confirmed  by  the  lxx, 
the  Vulgate,  and  the  Latin  translations  of  the  Syriac 
and  the  Arabic  ;  all  of  which  so  understand  the  original 
word  rendered  in  our  version  opp7'essing.  None  of  them 
indeed,  except  the  Latin  version  of  the  Syriac,  have 
translated  the  expression  quite  properly ;  for  they  read 
the  city  the  dove,  instead  of  the  city  of  the  dove  :  but,  so 
far  as  the  word  itself  is  concerned,  they  manifestly  under- 
stood it  to  mean  a  dove,  not  opp?'essive. 

How  greatly  the  dove  was  venerated  by  the  Assyrians 
is  well  known  to  every  person  in  the  least  degree  con- 


339  ..;-,. 

versant  with  ancient  mythology.  Diodorus  informs  us, 
that  they  worshipped  it  as  a  goddess  *  ;  and  Semiramis, 
one  of  their  fabulous  sovereigns,  was  reported  to  have 
been  changed  into  a  dove  f-  She  was  in  fact  the  sacred 
emblem  of  the  dove  itself:  whence,  according  to  Athe- 
nagoras,  she  was  worshipped  by  the  Syrians ;  and  was 
esteemed  the  daughter  of  Derceto,  and  the  same  as  the 
Syrian  goddess  %.  She  was  likewise  the  same,  in  the 
mythology  of  Syria,  as  Rhea,  Isis,  Astarte,  and  Atarga- 
tis  \.  In  her  temple  at  Hierapolis,  her  image  bore  upon 
its  head  a  golden  dove  ;  which  the  Assyrians  themselves 
called  Semeion  ||,  a  compound  oriental  word  denoting  the 
emblem  of  the  dove.  As  the  western  nations  mistook 
the  character  of  Semiramis,  and  fancied  that  she  was  a 
princess,  they  had  a  tradition  that  her  standard  was  a 
dove ;  because  they  found  that  such  was  the  national  in- 
signe  of  Assyria,  the  standard  of  all  the  iVssyrian  kings, 
as  the  eagle  was  of  Rome  both  republican  and  imperial^!. 
This  being  the  case,  the  Assyrian  empire  itself  was  poeti- 
cally styled  the  dove;  in  allusion  to  its  favourite  badge**; 
and  accordingly  it  is  thrice  mentioned  by  Jeremiah  under 
the  name  of  that  very  symbol.  Speaking  of  the  land  of 
Israel  being  laid  waste  by  the  Babylonians,  he  styles  them 

*  Aio  KXi  Tim  Aa-n-vpiHi  r)}V  -srspti-epx*  Ttf^mv  as  B-ixv.      Diocl.    Bibl.  L.  ii. 

p.  lor. 

t  Te  'Ze/icipxf*.i^3<i  TeAo?  f?  -zrepis-ipiiv  etTntitro  (Lucian.  de  dea  Syra.  Vol.  ii. 
p.  885.)  Evtot  ^e  f^vBoXoyavrei  <px7iv  »vryjv  y$veT6xi  Ts-tpi^-ipxv  (Diod.  Bibl. 
L.  ii.  p.  107.).  Diodorus  further  says,  that  the  person  who  was  supposed  to 
have  named  her,  bestowed  the  appellation  Seviiratnis  upon  her  from  Doves  : 
ov3jK,«  S-c/^£vov—ciC7ra  rav  Tirepi^ipuv  (L.  ii.  p.  93.).  Hence  Hesychius  informs 
us,  that  Semiramis  signifies  a  Kvild pigeon  :  ^ef<.ipctfi.ii,  -srepiTspst,  opiioi;  i>^r,vt<Ti- 
See  lilcewise  Ovid.  Metam.  Lib.  iv.  ver.  44—48  :  and  Athen.  Legat.  p.  33. 

X  Tjjv  l^ef^tpxf^v  creeii<rt  llvpoi—'H  S-vyecT})^  ry,i  Aepxersi  'ZifA.ipciiA.i^  fot^e 
'ZvDioe,  B-eoi;.      Athen.  Leg-at.  p.  307. 
§  Chron.  Pasch.  p.  36— Luc.  de  dea  Syra,  Vol.  ii.  p.  885. 

II  KaXierat  as  cryjiMJiot  kxi  ut'  xvray  A<rFupiav  (Luc.  de  dea  Syra  :)  :  not 
merely  by  the  Greeks,  but  by  the  Assyrians  themselves.  Semeion  is  Sem- 
Jonah,  the  name  or  sign  of  the  dove. 

^  Signum  vexilli  Semiramidos  fuit  figura  columbae ;  quod  vexilli  signum 
imitati  sunt  omnes  Assyrii  reges  (David  Ganz  Chronolog.  L.  ii.  ad  annum 
1958.).  After  the  conquest  of  Babylon  by  the  Assyrians,  all  the  tract  of 
country  between  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  was  called  Assyria. 

**  Our  Lord  alludes  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  Roman  ensign,  when  pre- 
dicting the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  :  Wheresoever  the  carcase  is,  there  luiU 
the  eagles  be  gathered  together  (Matt.  xxiv.  28.).  The  apocryphal  Esdras  like- 
wise symbolizes  the  Roman  empire,  or  Daniel's ^o"''^^'  beast,  by  an  eagle.  Sea 
2  Esdras  xi,  xii.  and  particularly  xii.  11. 


340 

■Jonah  or  the  dove  ;  which  passage  is  properly  rendered  bj' 
the  Vulgate,  Their  land  was  made  a  desolation  from  the  face 
of  the  anger  of  the  dove^.  In  another  place,  foretelling 
that  the  Jews  should  be  restored  to  their  own  land,  in 
consequence  of  the  do"svnfal  of  Babylon,  he  puts  these 
words  into  the  mouth  of  the  people,  as  they  are  likewise 
properly  rendered  by  the  Vulgate  :  Arise^  and  let  us  go 
again  to  onr  ow?i  people^  and  to  the  land  of  our  nativity ^ 
from  the  face  of  the  sword  of  the  dove  f.  So  again, 
speaking  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Assyrian  empire,  he 
says  ;  From  the  face  of  the  sword  of  the  dove,  they  (the 
captive  Jews)  shall  turn  every  one  to  his  people,  and  every 
one  to  his  oxvn  landX-  In  all  these  passages  Jeremiah 
uses  the  very  same  word  Jonah  or  a  dove  to  designate 
the  Babylonian  or  later  Assyrian  empire,  that  Zephaniah 
does  to  describe  JVineveh  which  was  the  capital  city  of 
the  dove  or  first  Assyrian  empire  \.  And  here  I  think 
we  may  observe  a  singular  propriety  in  the  name  of  the 
prophet,  who  was  sent  to  preach  repentance  to  the  Nine- 
vites.  Jonah  seems  rather  to  be  a  title  than  a  proper 
name.  From  the  circumstance  of  the  sacred  dove  being 
accounted  oracular  by  the  heathens,  their  priests  and 
prophets  were  sometimes  denominated  doves,  as  at  other 
times  for  the  same  reason  they  were  denominated  ravens  Ij. 
The  prophet  tlien,  assuming  the  title  of  Jonah  or  the  dove, 
calls  upon  Nineveh,  the  city  of  the  dove,  to  repent  of  her 
iniquities ;  and,  instead  of  consulting  the  false  oracle  of 

*  Jerem.  xxv.  38.  \  Jerem.  xlvi.  16. 

■\  JereTn.  1.  16. 

§  It  was  probably  in  allusion  to  the  sacredness  of  this  bird  amon.c^  the  Assy- 
rians, that  llosea  uses  for  a  comparison  tJie  fiight  of  a  dove  out  of  the  land  of 
Assyria  (Hos.  xi.  11.).  There  are  still  some  remains  in  the  East  of" the  ancient 
diluvian  veneration  of  the  dove  and  the  fish.  "In  Mecca  there  are  thousands 
of  blue  pigeons,  which  none  will  affright  or  abuse,  much  less  kill  them  ;  and 
they  are  therefore  so  very  tame,  that  they  will  pick  meat  out  of  one's  hand — 
Tliey  come  in  great  flocks  to  the  temple,  where  they  are  usually  fed  by  the 
pilgrims."  Tlie  people  of  Mecca  call  them  the  pigeons  of  the  prophet  (Pitts 
cited  by  Harmer,  Observ.  Vol.  iii.  p.  57.).  In  a  similar  manner  Sir  John  Char- 
din  twice  mentions  the  sacred  fishes  of  the  East ;  and  tells  us,  that  an  Arme- 
nian Christian,  who  had  ventured  to  take  some  of  them,  was  killed  on  the 
spot.     Ibid.  p.  58,  59. 

()  Hence  Herodotus,  when  speaking  of  two  priestesses  who  came  from 
Thebes  in  Egypt  and  settled  in  Dodona,  styles  them  doves.  Herod,  Hist.  L. 
ii.  c.  54. 

.    I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Rrvant  for  these  remarks  on  the  Assyrian  dove.    See 
his  Anal.  Vol.  ii.  p.  283—320. 


341  '*■ 

her  favourite  dove,  to  attend  to  the  true  oracle  sent  by 
the  livmg  God  *. 

But  1  have  said  enough  to  shew  the  propriety  with 
which  Nineveh  is  styled  the  city  of  the  dove ;  a  title, 
which  the  decorum  of  the  type  required  to  be  conferred 
upon  her,  although  all  that  is  said  in  the  third  chapter 
relates,  not  to  the  literal,  but  to  the  mystical  Nineveh.  It 
remains  to  be  shewn,  how  exactly  the  description  an- 
swers to  the  corrupt  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome. 

The  Nineveh  then,  which  according  to  Zephaniah  will 
be  destroyed  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  ofJiidah,  is,  like 
her  type,  an  exulting  city.  She  dwells  in  confident 
security ;  and  boasts,  that  there  is  none  beside  herself. 
Such  is  the  church  of  Rome.  She  fancies,  that  she  is  the 
only  true  church,  and  esteems  all  without  the  pale  of  her 
communion  to  be  heretics.  Hence  she  styles  herself  the 
catholic  church;  and  applies  to  her  own  ecclesiastical  po- 
lity the  promise  made  to  the  true  universal  church,  that 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  it — Nineveh 
swells  with  pride,  and  yet  is  polluted.  The  church  of 
Rome  does  the  same — Nineveh  obeyeth  not  the  voice, 
she  receiveth  not  correction.  The  infatuated  church  of 
Rome  hardens  herself  against  all  the  judgments  of  the 
Lord.  Unawed  by  the  downfal  of  the  eastern  empire, 
she  repents  not  of  the  work  of  her  hands,  that  she  should 
not  worship  demons,  and  idols  of  gold  and  silver  and 
brass  and  stone  and  wood,  which  can  neither  see,  nor 
hear,  nor  walk  ;  neither  does  she  repent  of  her  murders, 
nor  of  her  sorceries,  nor  of  her  spiritual  fornication,  nor 
of  her  thefts  f — The  princes  of  Ninevah  are  roaring 
lions,  her  judges  are  evening  wolves.  The  princes  of  the 
Romish  communion  have  been  notorious  for  persecuting 
the  faithful.  The  load  of  innocent  blood  presses  alike 
upon  the  houses  of  Austria,  Bourbon,  and  Savoy.  They 
have  all,  in  all  their  branches,  in  all  their  different  domi- 

*  Mr.  Bryant,  in  a  later  publication,  seems  to  think  that  Jonah  was  so  call- 
ed from  his  being  a  semi-idolater,  partly  worshipping'  God,  and  partly  the 
'Jonah  or  dove :  but,  in  his  Analysis,  he  conceives,  and  perhaps  more  justly, 
that  this  title  was  bestowed  upon  him  as  being  an  oracular  messenger  of  the 
Deity  to  tlie  Ninevites.  Compare  iiis  Observ.  on  passages  of  Scripture, 
p.  232,  with  his  Anal.  Vol.  ii.  p.  294. 

I  Rev.  ix.  20,  21. 


342 

nions,  been  guilty  of  shedding  the  blood  of  the  saints  and 
martyrs  ;  they  have  all  been  as  roaring  lions  to  the  sheep 
»f  Christ's  flock  ;  they  have  all  sold  themselves  to  be 
tools  to  the  harlot  church  ;  none  of  them  have  repented 
of  the  evil  of  their  ways.  And  wliat  have  been  the  eccle- 
siastical judges  of  -Rome  ?    Do  the  merciless  and  iniqui- 
tous wretches,  that  preside  in  the  diabolical  court  of  the 
Inquisition,  deserve  a  better  name  than  evening  wolves, 
wolves  that  cease  not  to   devour  their  prey  until  the 
morning  ?   The  prophets  of  Nineveh  are  licentiously  ex- 
travagant, gross  hypocrites :  her  priests  have  polluted  the 
sanctuary,  they  have  done  violence  to  the  law.  It  is  plain, 
that  this  description  can  only  relate  to  the  mystical  JVine- 
veh;  and  with  her  how  accurately  does  it  accord  ! — The 
just  Lord  however  is  in  the  midst  of  Nineveh.     So  is  he 
in  the  midst  di papal  Rome  by  his  word  and  ordinances: 
but  no  one  attendeth  to  his  judgments;  the  unjust  know- 
eth  no  shame — He  will  not  however  destroy  Nineveh^  till 
enough  has  been  done  to  rouse  her  to  a  sense  of  her 
condition.  Exactly  so  has  it  been,  and  still  is,  with  papal 
Rome.    By  the  instrumentality  of  a  tremendous  monster 
of  impiet}',  the  great  Antichrist  of  the  last  days,  the  na- 
tions in  the  communion  of  Rome  have  been  cut  off ;  their 
towers  have  been  made  desolate  ;  their  streets  have  been 
made  waste ;  their  inhabitants  have  been  slain.     Yet  do 
we  behold  any  reformation  ?    The  l^ord  might  well  say, 
Surely  thou  wilt  fear  me,  surely  thou  wilt  receive  instruc- 
tion, so  that  thy  dwelling  place  should  not  be  utterly  cut  off. 
But  what  has  been  the  event  ?  They  rose  up  early,  and 
corrupted  all  their  doings.    To  complete  her  sins,  Rome 
became  the  tool  of  Antichrist,  and  lent  herself  to  sanction 
the  ambitious  tyranny  of  a  vile  usurper  *. 

*  In  objection  to  this  interpretation  it  may  perhaps  be  urged,  Why  may  not 
the  city,  described  in  Zephan.  iii.  1 — 5,  be  Jerusalem  immediately  before  its 
destruction  by  the  Romans  ;  and  why  may  not  the  6th  and  7th  verses  relate 
to  tlie  dispersion  of  the  ye-as  P  To  this  I  answer  ;  that  the  event,  predicted 
in  the  8th  verse,  is  clearly  the  gathering'  together  of  the  Antichristianfactmi 
to  Jerusalem  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  yeius,  and  this  gathering" 
together  is  represented  as  being  the  consequence,  although  the  judgment  of 
God  has  been  long  delayed,  of  the  hardened  iniquity  of  the  city,  which  the 
prophet  had  immediately  before  described.  But  the  gathering  together  of 
the  Antichristian  faction  to  their  destruction  is  the  consequence  of  the  sins  of 
the  Roman  Babylon  (see  Rev.  xvi.  1,  2,  6, 10,  14, 16, 19,  and  xix.  19,  20,  21.), 
cert^nly  not  of  ancient  yerusalem  :  therefore  the  city  must  be  the  Roman 


343 

We  have  read  the  character  of  the  Rofnan  Nineveh  ; 
we  must  now  attend  to  the  prophetic  account  of  her  joint 
destruction  with  her  Antichri&tlan  colleague,  a  destruc- 
tion which  Zephaniah  represents  as  being  contemporary 
with  the  resto7'ation  of  the  Jexvs,  a  destruction  therefore 
which  plainly  shews  that  we  are  not  here  to  understand 
the  literal  Nineveh.  The  saints  may  well  be  supposed  to 
be  weary  at  beholding  the  lengthened  tyranny  of  the  har- 
lot church,  and  to  be  struck  with  horror  at  viewing  the 
dreadful  impieties  and  extensive  ravages  of  Antichrist. 
God  therefore  calls  upon  them  to  wait  patiently  for  him, 
until  the  day  that  he  rises  up  to  the  prey.  Sooner  or  later 
that  awful  day  will  surely  come.  Then  will  the  Lord 
gather  together  the  nations,  and  assemble  the  kingdoms: 
then  will  he  collect,  to  the  tremendous  vintage  of  his 
wrath,  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  head,  his  tool  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  vassal  kings  that  constitute  the 
federal  members  of  his  empire.  He  will  bring  them  toge- 
ther into  the  land  of  Palestine,  to  the  valley  of  Megiddo  : 
and  there  will  he  pour  upon  them  the  fierceness  of  his 
indignation,  and  devour  them  with  the  fire  of  his  jealousy. 

Yet  this  period  of  unexampled  trouble  shall  at  length 
introduce  the  happiness  of  the  Millennium.  After  the 
destruction  of  his  enemies  God  will  turn  unto  the  nations 
a  pure  religious  confession,  and  cause  them  all  to  serve 
him  with  one  consent. 

Meanwhile,  obedient  to  the  divine  command,  some 
powerful  jna7'itime  natioji  of  faithful  worshippers  will  go 
forth  as  swift  messengers  to  the  scattered  of  Judah.  Un- 
conquered  by  Antichrist  because  servants  of  the  living 

Babylon,  and  not  Jerusalem.  It  may  further  be  remarked,  that  the  nations, 
ix^entioned plurally  in  the  6th  verse,  can  scarcely  mean  the  single  nation  of 
the  jFeivs  :  on  the  contrary,  they  seem  evidently  to  be  the  same  as  the  nations 
that  are  to  be  gathered  together  in  the  8th  verse.  After  having  been  cut  off 
and  made  desolate  by  the  merciless  tyranny  of  Antichrist,  they  will  at  length 
be  gathered  together  by  his  agency  and  compelled  to  embark  in  his  final 
mad  crusade.  Mr.  Lowth  thinks  that  Jerusalem  is  spoken  of  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  chapter,  yet  he  supposes  that  the  nations,  mentioned  in  ver. 
6,  mean  Nineveh  and  her  allies.  Such  being  the  case,  the  context  seems  to 
me  plainly  to  require  that  by  the  city  we  should  understand  Nineveh,  not 
yerusalein.  Though,  like  myself,  he  refers  the  prophecy  primarily  to  the 
literal  Nineveh,  yet  he  thinks  very  justly  that  the  assembling  of  the  nations, 
mentioned  in  the  8th  verse,  is  the  same  as  the  gathering  together  of  the  nations 
to  the  valley  of  yehoskaphat,  predicted  in  Joel  iii.  ?,  1? 


344 

God,  they  will  suddenly  launch  their  fleets,  and  will  bring 
an  offering  unto  the  holy  mountain,  even  the  long-affiict- 
ed  daughter  of  the  dispersion.  From  beyond  the  Cushan 
streams  of  the  Nile,  from  the  western  isles  of  the  Gentiles, 
Avill  their  navy  rapidly  come  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind. 
Then  shall  the  daughter  of  Judah  be  no  more  ashamed : 
for,  although  the  Lord  will  restore  her  during  a  period  of 
great  tribulation,  and  will  punish  such  of  her  children  as 
rejoice  in  their  pride  and  have  stayed  themselves  upon 
the  arm  of  Antichrist  rather  than  upon  the  arm  of  God ; 
yet  will  he  leave  in  the  midst  of  her  a  humble  and  con- 
trite people  who  shall  trust  in  his  holy  name.  Then  will 
he  be  her  king,  so  that  she  shall  behold  evil  no  more. 
Then  will  he  undo  all  that  afflict  her,  and  give  her  praise 
and  renown  in  every  land  where  she  hath  been  put  to 
shame.  Then  will  he  bring  her  back  from  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  restore  her  captivity  before  her  eyes. 


PROPHECY    XXXVII. 

The  various  dispersions  of  Israel  by  four  kingdoms  of  the  Gen- 
tiles—The final  restoration  and  prosperity  of  the  Jews — The 
miraculous  overthrow  of  Antichrist. 

Zechariah  i.  12.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  answered  and 
said,  O  Lord  of  hosts,  how  long  wilt  thou  not  have  mercy 
on  Jerusalem  and  on  the  cities  of  Judah,  against  which 
thou  hast  had  indignation  these  threescore  and  ten  years  ? 
13.  And  the  Lord  answered  the  angel  that  talked  with 
me  widi  scood  words  and  comfortable  words — 16.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord ;  I  am  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  mer- 
cies :  my  house  shall  be  built  in  it,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  and  a  line  shall  be  stretched  forth  upon  Jerusa- 
lem— 

18.  Then  lifted  I  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold, 
four  horns.  19.  And  I  said  unto  the  angel  that  talked 
with  me.  What  be  these  ?  And  he  answered  me,  These 
are  the  horns,  which  have  scattered  Judah,  Israel,  and 
Jerusalem.  20.  And  the  Lord  shewed  me  four  artificers. 


345 

21.  Then  said  I,  What  come  these  to  do?  And  he  spake, 
saying,  Those  were  the  horns  which  scattered  Judah,  so 
that  no  man  did  Uft  up  his  head  :  but  these  are  come  to 
fray  them,  to  cast  out  the  horns  of  the  Gentiles  which 
lifted  up  the  horn  over  the  hmd  of  Judah  to  scatter  it. 

ii.  1.  I  hfted  up  mine  eyes  again,  and  looked,  and  be- 
hold, a  man  with  a  measuring  line  in  his  hand.  2.  Then 
said  I,  Whither  goest  thou  ?  And  he  said  unto  me,  To 
measure  Jerusalem,  to  see  what  is  the  breadth  thereof, 
and  what  is  the  length  thereof  3.  And  behold,  the  angel 
that  talked  ^vith  me  went  forth,  and  another  angel  went 
out  to  meet  him,  4.  And  said  unto  him.  Run,  speak  to 
this  young  man,  saying,  Jerusalem  shall  inhabit  towns 
without  walls  for  the  multitude  of  men  and  cattle  Avithin 
her  ^.  5.  For  I,  saith  the  Lord,  will  be  unto  her  a  wall 
of  fire  round  about  her,  and  will  be  for  glory  in  the  midst 
of  her.  6.  Ho,  ho,  come  forth ^  and  flee  from  the  land  of 
the  north,  saith  the  Lord :  for  I  have  spread  you  abroad 
as  the  four  winds  of  heaven  f,  saith  the  Lord.  7.  Ho 
Zion,  be  thou  delivered,  thou  that  dwellest  with  the 
daughter  of  Babylon.  8.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts  ;  After  the  glory  hath  he  sent  me  unto  the  nations 
which  spoiled  you  :  for  he,  that  toucheth  you,  toucheth 
the  apple  of  his  eye.  9.  For  behold,  I  will  shake  my 
hand  upon  them,  and  they  shall  be  a  spoil  to  their  ser- 
vants :  and  ye  shall  know  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath 
sent  me.  10.  Sing  and  rejoice,  O  daughter  of  Zion : 
for  lo,  I  come,  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee, 
saith  the  Lord.  11.  And  many  nations  shall  be  joined 
unto  the  Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall  be  my  people  :  and 
I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  and  thou  shalt  know 
that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  thee.     12.  And 

*  Jerusalem  shall  inhabit.']  "  Jerusalem  is  here  personified  under  the 
symbol  of  a  Tcoman,  by  which  cities  and  countries  are  often  figuratively  repre- 
sented— Under  tliis  character,  yerusaletn  may  be  understood  to  occupy  or 
inhabit,  not  only  the  houses  within  her  walls,  but  the  open  villag-es  round 
about,  on  account  of  her  enlarged  popidation."  Dr.  Klayney's  Trans,  of 
Zechai'.  in  loc. 

f  I  have  spread  you  abroad  as  the  four  voinds  of  heaven.]  "  As  1  have  scat- 
tered you  and  your  brethren  of  the  ten  tribes  all  the  world  over,  so  in  due 
time  I  will  g-ather  you  from  your  several  dispersions,  of  wiiicii  your  preseni; 
restoration  from  Bab  don  shall  be  an  earnest."     Mr.  I.owth  in  lo'; 

44 


346 

the  Lord  shall  inherit  Judah  his  portion  in  the  holy  land*^ 
and  shall  choose  Jerusalem  again.  15.  Be  silent,  O  all 
flesh,  before  the  Lord:  for  he  is  raised  up  out  of  his 
holy  habitation. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  beginning  of  this  two-fold  prophecy  relates  entirely 
to  the  70  years  captivity  of  Judah.  The  people  had  now 
returned  from  Babylon :  and  Zechariah  encourages  them 
in  the  erection  of  the  second  temple,  by  declaring  that  it 
should  be  built  in  Jerusalem.  But  from  this  particular 
captivity  he  immediately  passes  to  a  general  view  of  all 
the  captivities  a?id  persecutions  both  of  Israel  and  Judah. 
He  beholds  four  ho-ms,  which  the  interpreting  angel  in- 
forms him  denote  four  kingdoms  of  the  Gentiles^  that 
have  scattered  and  afflicted  Judah,  Israel,  and  Jerusalem. 
To  know  what  four  kingdoms  are  here  intended,  we 
must  consult  history.  Now  the  Assyrians  led  away  cap- 
tive the  ten  tribes.  The  Babylonians  afterwards  carried 
away  the  two  remaining  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin. 
The  Syro-Macedonians  most  cruelly  persecuted  them^ 
and  Antiochus  Epiphanes  in  particular  wreaked  his  ven- 
geance on  Jerusalem ;  insomuch  that,  in  the  reigns  of 
the  two  first  Ptolemies,  many  of  the  Jews,  as  we  learn 
from  Josephus  f,  were  slaves  in  Egypt.  Lastly,  the 
Romans  utterly  dissolved  the  Jewish  polity,  and  scattered 
them  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  These  then  seem 
to  be  the  four  kingdoms,  which  scatter  Israel,  Judah,  and 
Jerusalem :  for  so  the  prophet,  with  reference  to  their 
several  afflictions,  most  accurately  distinguishes  into  three 
divisions  the  sons  of  Jacob:}:.     As  for  the  four  artificers  ^ 

*  The  Lord  shall  inherit  yiidah  his  portion  in  the  holy  land.']  "  God  shall 
give  visible  tokens,  that  the  land  oi yudca  and  its  inhabitants  are  his  pecirfiar 
people— This  may  perhaps  be  more  fully  verified  at  the  general  restoration 
of  that  nation."     M\\  Lowth  in  loc. 

t  Ant.  .Tud.  Lib.  xii.  C.  1,  2. 

%  The  four  great  empires,  as  they  are  usually  called,  cannot,  as  It  appears 
to  me,  be  intended  by  t!ie  four  horns ;  because  Israel  was  led  into  captivity 
previous  to  tlie  rise  of  the  Babylo7iian  empire  properly  so  called,  and  because 
tlie  Persians  were  protectors,  not  persecutors,  of  ytidah.  Yet  it  is  proper  to 
observe  tliat  tlie  '^enxs  themselves  have  generally  been  of  opinion,  that  these 
four  horns  symbolize  the  four  great  einpires  described  in  the  seventh  chapter 
of  Daniel.    See  Dr.  Ulayney  in  loc.     Mr.  Lowth  thiiiks  the  expression  four 


347 

ihey  are  plainly  allegorical  characters :  and  this  part  of 
the  prophecy  merely  denotes,  that  the  four  persecuting 
horjis  should  be  successively  broken  *. 

Having  thus  sufficiently  taught  us,  that  we  are  to 
understand  the  rest  of  his  prediction  as  referring  to  the 
restoration^  not  merely  of  the  Jews  from  the  70  years 
captivity^  but  of  both  Israel  and  Judah  from  the  scatter- 
ing both  of  the  Assyrian  horn  and  the  Roman  horn^  Ze- 
chariah  next  introduces  the  imagery,  so  common  among 
the  prophets,  of  measuring  Jerusalem.  An  angel  is  then 
charged  to  tell  him,  that  Jerusalem  shall  hereafter  over- 
flow with  men  and  with  cattle ;  and  that  tlie  Lord  will 
be  a  wall  of  fire  around  her,  and  for  glory  in  the  midst 
of  her.  By  this  glory  I  think  we  can  only  understand 
the  divine  Shechinah ;  which  will  be  the  glory  of  the 
Millennian  church,  as  it  heretofore  was  of  the  Levitical 
church  f.  At  least  the  subsequent  context  seems  almost 
to  compel  us  to  adopt  such  an  opinion. 

Here  the  Lord  raises  his  voice  aloud,  and  calls  to  the 
dispersed  of  Israel  to  gather  themselves  together  from 
the  north,  and  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven  :  from  As- 
syria, the  dominions  of  the  literal  Babylon^  throup;h  which 
the  ten  tribes  ^vere  scattered ;  and  from  the  West,  the 
dominions  of  the  mystical  Babylon,  thi-ough  which  in 
a  peculiar  manner  the  two  tribes  are  dispersed.      The 

may  perhaps  be  indefinite,  signifying'  their  enemies  in  general  among  whom 
they  were  dispersed  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 

*  Dr.  Blayney  translates  the  passage  in  the  following  manner.  "  And 
Jehovah  shewed  me  four  plowmen.  And  I  said,  What  come  tliese  to  do  ?  And 
he  replied,  saying,  These  are  the  horns  which  liave  scattered  Judah,  so  that 
no  man  lifted  up  his  head.  And  these  are  come,  sliarpening  tlieir  coulter, 
for  to  use  upon  the  horna  of  the  nations,  which  lifted  up  a  horn  against  the 
land  of  Judah  to  scatter  it."  The  idea  however,  so  far  as  tlie  general  import 
of  the  prophecy  is  concerned,  will  be  the  same  ;  for  he  supposes  the  allusion 
to  be  to  plo'j^vioi  striking  the  horns  nf  mischievous  oxen  ivith  the  coulters  of  their 
ploughs. 

f  I  cannot  but  think  that  Dr.  Blayney  lowers  the  sense  of  this  passage  in 
a  very  unnatural  manner,  by  paraphrasing-  it  to  mean  nothing  more  than  "  I 
will  reside  in  the  midst  of  her  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  her  glory  and 
prosperity."  The  glory  of  the  Lord,  or  the  Lord  the  glory,  is  frequently  used 
to  denote,  what  I  believe  it  to  denote  here,  the  glorious  inanifestation  cf  the 
second perso7i  of  tlie  Trinity.  See  Psalm  xxiv.  7.  Isaiah  xl.  5.  Ix.  1,  2.  Malachi 
iv.  2.  Ezek.  iii.  12.  Heb.  i.  3.  John  i.  14.  Rom.  ix.  4.  See  Jamieson's  Vindi- 
cation of  the  doctrine  of  ScripttU'e.  Vol.  i.  p.  95.  Philo  Judeus  styles  the 
divine  Logos  the  light  of  the  inorld  and  the  intellectual  sun.  See  Uryant  on  the 
sentiments  of  Philo  Judeus,  p.  113,  203.  See  also  Mr.  Lowtli  on  Zechar, 
51 V.  4. 


348 

Lord  of  hosts  that  speaks  is  the  Messiah;  who,  while  he 
solemnly  announces  his  second  advent^  avows  that  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  God  the  Father,  hath  sent  him,  thus  bear- 
ing an  illustrious  testimony  to  his  own  divinity  *.  After 
the  glorify  he  declares  himself  to  be  sent  unto  the  nations 
that  spoiled  his  ancient  people :  and  now  he  will  shake 
his  hand  upon  them,  and  cause  them  in  their  turn  to 
become  a  spoil  to  those,  whom  they  had  made  their  ser- 
vants. I  have  no  doubt  tliat  the  destruction  of  Antichristy 
at  the  period  of  the  restoration  ofJudah^  is  here  predicted, 
in  exact  harmony  with  the  writings  of  all  the  other  pro- 
phets. After  the  glory ^  Christ  is  sent  to  take  vengeance 
upon  the  collected  nations  of  his  enemies.  This  glory  I 
conceive  to  be  the  same,  as  the  glory  which  Zechariah 
had  already  mentioned ;  for  the  context  seems  to  require, 
that,  what  the  one  glory  means,  the  other  should  likewise 
mean.  Subsequent f  then  to  this  glory  that  is  to  say, 
subsequent  to  the  manifestation  of  God'^s  glory  in  the 
midst  of  Jerusalem,  Messiah  will  shake  his  hand  over 
the  vassal  allies  of  Antichrist.  I  know  not  what  infer- 
ence we  can  draw  from  this  remarkable  passage,  espe- 
cially when  viewed  in  connection  with  other  parallel  pas- 
sages, except  the  following  :  that,  after  the  Antichristian 
faction  has  succeeded  in  taking  Jerusalem,  and  when  its 
armies  are  upon  the  full  maixh  to  Megiddo  with  a  view 
of  attacking  the  dispirited  remnant  of  the  Jews  and  their 
protectors  the  maritime  power ^  then  will  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  appear  in  the  midst  of  his  holy  city ;  and,  after  it 
has  thus  appeared,  Messiah  will  go  forth  in  his  strength 
to  tread  the  wine-press  of  the  mystic  Edom.  His  enemies 
being  thus  subdued,  the  whole  body  of  his  ancient  peo- 

*  See  Dr.  Eveleig-h's  very  clear  and  satisfactory  sermon  on  this  passag-e. 

■J-  Dr.  Bla}  ney  gives  quite  a  different  sense  to  the  word  after,  and  explains 
the  whole  passac^e  in  a  manner  altogether  unlike  that  which  I  liave  adopted. 
**  To  send  a  person  after  anything,"  sajs  he,  "implies  the  requisition  of  his 
services  for  that  particular  purpose.  When  therefore  flod  is  said  to  have  sent 
the  angel  after  the  glory,  he  must  be  understood  to  have  charged  him  with 
the  means  of  bringing  it  about."  The  word  after  sometimes  bears  such  a 
sense  in  English,  and  I  will  not  presume  so  far  to  set  my  knowledge  in  com- 
petition with  tliat  of  the  late  learned  professor  as  to  assert  that  nnx  never 
bears  sucli  a  sense  in  Hebrew  :  but  this  I  may  safely  say,  that  I  do  not  recol- 
lect to  have  met  with  the  word  thus  used  elsewhere,  nor  do  either  Buxtorf 
or  Parkhurst  assign  to  it  any  such  signification.  1  have  adopted  in  short  what 
appears  to  myself  at  least  the  most  natural  interpretation  of  the  passage. 


349 

pie  shall  acknowledge  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent 
hini.  They  shall  look  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced, 
when  he  cometh,  and  dwelleth  in  the  midst  of  them; 
and  the  daughter  of  Zion  shall  sing,  and  rejoice  in  the 
presence  of  her  incarnate  God.  Meanwhile,  after  the 
destruction  of  the  apostate  army,  many  nations  shall  be 
joined  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts.  They  shall  acknowledge 
his  divine  mission,  and  walk  in  his  courts.  They  shall 
be  awfully  silent  before  him,  when  he  riseth  up  out  of 
his  holy  habitation  :  and  every  mouth  shall  be  stopped, 
when  he  inherits  Judah  his  portion,  and  when  he  chooses 
Jerusalem  again. 


PROPHECY    XXXVIII. 

The  general  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  the  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles. 

Zechariah  viii.  2.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  I 
was  jealous  for  Zion  with  great  jealousy,  and  I  was  jea- 
lous for  her  with  great  fury.  3.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  I 
am  returned  unto  Zion,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Jeru- 
salem :  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  called.  The  city  of  the 
truth ;  and  the  mountain  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  The  holy 
mountain.  4.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  There  shall 
yet  old  men  and  old  women  dwell  in  the  streets  of  Jeru- 
saleni,  and  every  man  with  his  staff  in  his  hand  for  very 
age.  5.  And  the  streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys 
and  girls  playing  in  the  streets  thereof.  6.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  If  it  be  marvellous  in  the  eyes  of 
the  remnant  of  this  people  in  these  days,  should  it  also 
be  marvellous  in  mine  eyes  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
7.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  Behold  I  will  save  my 
people  from  the  east-country,  and  from  the  west-coun- 
try * ;  8.  And  I  will  bring  them,  and  they  shall  dwell  in 

*  /  luill  save  my  people  from  the  east-country,  and  from  the  west-country.'] 
"  This  denotes  the  general  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation  from  their  several 
dispersions,  an  event  foretold  by  most  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  west-country  here  mentioned  hath  a  particular  relation  to  their  present 
dispersion,  great  numbers  of  them  being  in  these  latter  ages  settled  in  the 
western  parts  of  the  world.    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc- 


350 

the  midst  of  Jerusalem :  and  they  shall  be  my  people, 
and  I  will  be  their  God  in  truth  and  in  righteousness — 
13.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that,  as  ye  were  a  curse 
among  the  nations,  O  house  of  Judah,  and  house  of  Isra- 
el *  ;  so  will  I  save  you,  and  ye  shall  be  a  blessing:  fear 
not;  let  your  hands  be  strong.  14.  For  thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts  ;  As  I  thought  to  punish  you,  when  your 
fathers  provoked  me  to  wrath,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
and  T  repented  not;  15.  So  again  have  I  thought  in  these 
days  to  do  well  unto  Jerusalem  and  to  the  house  of  Ju- 
dah ;  fear  ye  not — 20.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  It 
shall  yet  come  to  pass,  that  there  shall  come  people,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  many  cities.  21.  And  the  inhabitants 
of  one  city  shall  go  to  another,  saying,  Let  us  go  speedi- 
ly to  pray  before  the  Lord  f,  ^nd,  to  seek  the  Lord  of 
hosts  :  I  will  go  also.  22.  Yea,  many  people  and  strong 
nations  shall  come  to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  to  pray  before  the  Lord.  23.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts  ;  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  those  days,  that 
ten  men  out  of  all  the  languages  of  the  nations  shall  take 
hold,  even  shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a 
Jew,  saying  we  will  go  with  you  :  for  we  have  heard 
that  God  is  with  you. 

COMMENTARY. 

This  prophecy  must,  I  think,  be  referred  to  the  yet 
future  restoration  of  God's  ancient  people^  and  not  merel}" 
to  the  return  of  Judah  from  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
The -following  considerations  lead  me  to  adopt  such  an 
opinion.  A  restoration  from  the  east  and  the  rvest,  which 
was  yet  future,  is  promised  ;  the  Jews  had  already  re- 
turned from  Babylon,  which  was  only  in  the  north-east. 
The  restoration  both  of  the  house  of  Judah  aiid  the  house 

*  O  house  of  Judah,  and  house  cf  Israel.']  "  The  mentioning  both  Judah 
and  Israel,  whicli  had  been  so  long  separated,  shews  that  both  the  curse  and 
the  blessing  here  spoken  of,  in  its  ultimate  sense,  belongs  to  the  whole  body 
cf  the  Jews  ;  who,  as  they  are  a  public  instance  of  God's  judgments  now,  so 
shall  they  hereafter  be  of  his  blessings  :  namely,  at  the  general  restoration 
and  conversion  of  that  nation,  to  which  several  promises  in  this  chapter 
relate."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

f  Let  us  go  speedilv  to  pray  before  the  Lord."]  "  A  prophecy  of  the  gentiles 
coming  into  the  Church."    Mr.  Lowth  in  lor. 


351 

of  Israel  is  predicted :  Judah  alone  returned  from  Baby- 
lon, with  the  exception  of  a  few  stragglers  belonging  to 
the  other  ten  tribes.     Judah  and  Israel  are  conjointly  to 
cease  to  be  a  curse  among  the  nations :  they  are  still, 
even  in  the  present  day,  a  proverb  and  a  bye-word.    Fi- 
nally there  is  to  be  a  great  influx  of  mighty  and  strong 
nations  to  Jerusalem,  there  to  worship  the  Lord,  and  to 
seek  his  face ;  they  are  to  acknowleclge,  that  God  of  a 
truth  dwelleth  with  the  Jews  ;  and  so  eager  are  they  to 
be  to  court  an  intimate  communication  with  the  house  of 
Jacob,  that  even  ten  men  of  all  nations  and  languages 
shall  lay  hold  of  the  skirt  of  a  single  Jexv  :  this  prophecy 
has  never  yet  been  accomplished,  for  it  is  absurd  to  sup- 
pose it  accomplished  in  the  few  gentile  proselytes  made 
occasionally  before  the  days  of  the  first  advent ;  and,  if 
it  be  not  yet  accomplished,  we  must  look  for  its  comple- 
tion in  the  days  of  the  second  advent,  agreeably  to  many 
other  predictions  to  which  this  is  exactly  parallel  *. 

Such  then  being  the  case,  we  may  see  the  reason  why 
it  should  appear  so  marvellous  in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 
They  had  only  just  been  brought  back  from  Babylon, 
and  they  are  presented  with  a  prophecy  relative  to  some 
yet  future  restoration  both  of  Judah  and  Israel.  They 
do  not  seem  to  have  considered,  that  a  prediction  of  this 
nature  involved  necessarily  a  prediction  oisome  yet  future 
dispersion.  Hence  it  was  marvellous  in  their  eyes  :  but 
should  it  for  that  reason  be  likewise  marvellous  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  ?  Their  second  dispersion  by 
the  Romans  has  now  long  since  taken  place :  and  from 
the  past  we  may  anticipate,  as  equally  certain,  their  fu- 
ture restoratio7i  along  with  the  house  of  Israel,  both  from 
the  west-country  and  from  the  east-country. 

*  See  Isaiah  ii.  l—S.  Ixvi.  12,  19—24,  and  Micah-iv.  1,  2,  3. 


352 


PROPHECY  XXXIX. 


The  instrumentality  of  Judah  in  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist — The 
restoration  of  Joseph — His  office  of  converting  the  Gentiles— 
The  fate  of  Egypt^and  Assyria. 

Zechariah  x.  3.  Mine  anger  is  kindled  against  the 
shepherds,  and  I  will  punish  the  goats :  for  the  Lord  of 
hosts  visiteth  his  flock  the  house  of  Judah,  and  maketh 
them  as  his  goodly  horse  in  the  battle.  4.  Out  of  him 
shall  go  forth  a  comer,  out  of  him  a  nail,  out  of  him  the 
bow  of  battle,  out  of  him  all  that  draw  near  together. 
5.  And  they  shall  be  as  mighty  men*,  which  tread  down 
in  the  mire  of  the  streets  in  a  battle :  and  they  shall 
fight,  because  the  Lord  is  with  them  ;  and  the  riders  on 
horses  shall  be  confounded.  6.  And  I  will  strengthen 
the  house  of  Judah,  and  I  will  save  the  house  of  Joseph  f, 
and  I  will  bring  them  again  to  place  them:  for  I  will 
have  mercy  upon  them ;  and  they  shall  be  as  though  I 
had  not  cast  them  off" :  for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God, 
and  will  hear  them.  7.  And  they  of  EphraimJ  shall 
be  like  a  mighty  man,  and  their  heart  shall  rejoice  as 
through  wine :  yea,  their  children  shall  see  it,  and  be 
glad ;  their  heart  shall  rejoice  in  the  Lord.  8.  I  will 
hiss  for  them,  and  gather  them :  for  I  have  redeemed 
them,  and  they  shall  increase,  as  they  have  increased. 
9.  And  I  will  sow  them  among  the  people,  and  they 
shall  remember  me  in  far  countries ;  for  they  shall  live 
with  their  children,  and  shall  return.  10.  I  will  bring 
them  also  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  gather  them 
out  of  Assyria ;  and  I  will  bring  them  into  the  land  of 
Gilead  and  Lebanon;  and  it  shall  not  suilice  for  them. 
11.  And  he  shall  pass  through  the  sea.  with  affliction,  and 

*  They  shall  be  as  viighty  men  ]  "  This  may  be  understood— of  the  victo- 
ries, which  the  yews  should  obtain  over  their  enemies  in  the  latter  times. 
See  chap.  xii.  6,  to  which  the  following-  part  of  the  chapter  seems  to  relate.'" 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

■\  yudah— Joseph?^  "This  promise  is  probably  to  be  understood  of  the 
general  restoration  of  the  yexvish  nation  upon  their  conversion,  a  subject  often 
treated  of  by  the  prophets  in  the  Old  Testament,  where  Judah  and  Israel  an 
spoken  of  as  equal  sliarers  in  this  blessing-."     Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 

i^  Thev  of  Ephraim.l  *'  Ephraim  is  equivalent  here  to  the  ten  tribes,  as  tlie 
I'cuss  of  Joseph  is,  ver.  P."    Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


353 

shall  smite  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  all  the  deeps  of  the 
river  shall  dry  up  ;  and  the  pride  of  Assyria  shall  be 
brought  down,  and  the  scepter  of  Egypt  shall  depart 
away.  12.  And  I  will  strengthen  them  in  the  Lord ; 
and  they  shall  walk  up  and  down  in  his  name,  saith  the 
Lord. 

COMMENTARY. 

Zechariah  opens  this  prophecy  with  the  same  imagerj*^ 
that  Ezekiel  had  used  before  him  *.  The  anger  of  God 
is  kindled  against  the  shepherds  or  governors  who  had 
so  long  troubled  his  people  Israel:  and  he  threatens  to 
punish  the  goats,  or  those  apostate  Jexvs  who  had  joined 
the  party  of  Antichrist  f  ;  while  he  promises  in  general 
to  visit  his  flock,  and  to  make  them  as  the -goodly  horse 
in  the  battle.  For  this  purpose  he  will  bring  it  to  pa^s, 
that,  at  the  time  when  the  injldel  confederacy  is  over- 
thrown, Judah  shall  take  an  active  part  in  the  destruction 
of  his  enemies  %.  Out  of  him  shall  go  forth  a  corner,  or 
a  chief  commander  \  ;  out  of  him  a  nail,  or  the  oncers 
next  in  rank\  ;•  out  of  him  the  how  of  battle,  or  the  arch- 

*  Ezek.  xxxiv.  f  Compare  Ezek.  xxxiv.  1?. 

%  Compare  Zechar.  xli.  2 — 6. 

$  "^  community  is  often  expressed  by  an  edifice  or  building ;  and  the  cor- 
responding parts  expressed  by  the  same  name.  Hence,  as  the  largest  stones 
or  timbers  are  used  in  the  angles  to  bind  together  and  strengthen  the  sides  of 
the  building,  which  meet  therein  as  in  a  common  centre ;  so  the  angle  op 
corwer  metaphorically  denotes  ?Ae  c/2/e/"/)er*o«a^e  in  a  comm,unity,  on  whom, 
its  strength  and  security  principally  depends.  Accordingly  we  find  nufl,  pro- 
perly corners,  rendered  chief  in  our  English  version,  Judg.  xx.  2.  1  Sam.  xiv. 
58.  and  in  Isaiah  xix.  13.  they  that  are  the  stay  ,•  in  the  maigin,  governors ;  and 
by  Bp.  Lowth,  chief  pillars.  Therefore  by  nJB  here  may  be  understood  the 
commander  in  chief. '^     Dr.  Blayney's  Zechariah  in  loc, 

(I  "  ini  is  properly  a  nail  or  pin  used  to  fasten  the  timbers  or  parts  of  a 
building  together  ;  and  may  therefore  serve  to  denote  the  officers  next  in  com- 
inand  under  the  chief,  by  whose  means  the  cowimon  soldiers  are  united,  kept 
steady,  and  in  regular  order.  Bp.  Lowth  has  t^'O  excellent  notes  on  Isaiah 
xxii.  23,  24.  in  which  are  stated  the  use  and  importance  of  nails,  spikes,  or 
wooden  pins,  and  their  application  to  denote  persons  eminent  in  station  and 
pcaer.  Such  a  nail  or  pin  was  Eliakim  to  be,  tlie  support  of  his  family 
and  friends  ;  and  such  had  Shebna  been  ;  but  he,  it  is  said,  ver.  25,  was  to 
be  re<ioved,  cut  down,  and  to  fall,  so  as  to  involve  in  his  ruin  all  that  depend- 
ed on  him.  In  one  of  these  notes  the  Bishop  cites  Ezra  ix.  8,  Grace  hath  been 
shelved  from  the  Lord  our  God,  to  leave  us  a  remnatit  to  escape,  and  to  give  us  a 
nail  in  his  holy  place.  That  is,  says  the  Bishop,  as  the  margin  of  our  Bible 
explains  it,  a  constant  and  sure  abode.  But  might  it  not  rather  mean,  a  person 
of  Kisdom  and  authority  to  conduct  and  steady  them,,  and  on  whom  they  might 
lean  for  support,  after  that  God  had  brought  them  once  more  to  his  holy 
place  ?"     Tiv.  Blaynev  in  loc. 

45  ■ 


354 

crs  *  ;  out  of  him  all  that  draxv  near  together  f.  And 
the  Lord  will  give  them  strength  to  tread  down  their  foes, 
and  to  fight  as  mighty  men  even  as  the  riders  on  horse- 
back. 

Nor  shall  Judah  alone  be  restored:  God  will  save  like- 
wise the  house  of  Joseph^  though  he  appears  to  have  long 
entirely  forgotten  them.  He  will  hiss  for  them,  and 
gather  them :  and,  after  he  hath  mightily  redeemed  them, 
he  will  sow  them  among  the  people,  and  they  shall  re- 
member him  in  far  countries.  He  will  make  them  as  k 
were  the  seed  of  his  Millennian  church :  and  cause  them 
to  be  instrumental  in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  his 
truth,  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  %,  He  will 
bring  them  moreover  out  of  Eg}'pt,  and  gather  them  out 
of  Assyria.  The  figurative  sea  of  Egypt  shall  then  be 
smitten,  and  the  river  of  Assyria  shall  be  dried  up ;  or, 
as  the  prophet  himself  explains  this  symbolical  imagery, 
the  pride  of  Assyria  shall  be  brought  down,  and  the 
scepter  of  Egypt  shall  depart  away.  Nevertheless,  while 
restoring  his  ancient  people  and  executing  vengeance 
upon  his  enemies,  God  will  not  forget  to  be  gracious. 
Though  he  will  smite  Egypt,  and  give  it  up  for  a  season 
into  the  hand  of  Antichrist ;  yet  he  will  smite  it  only  to 
heal  it :  for  "  they  shall  return  to  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
be  intreated  of  them,  and  shall  heal  them."  Assyria 
shall  likewise  taste  his  mere}-,  after  he  has  gathered  his 
long  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  from  out  of  the 
midst  of  her.  "  In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  the  third  with 
Egypt  and  with  Assyria,  even  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of 
the  land ;  whom  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  bless,  saying, 
Blessed  be  Eg}'^pt  my  people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of 
my  hands,  and  Israel  mine  inheritance  §." 

*  "  The  bow  of  battle  caa  only  mean  the  archers  in  an  army."  Dr.  Bla}ney 
in  loc. 

■}•  **  In  the  honse  or  building  these  words  would  denote  the  stones  of  com,' 
vion  itse  placed  cnntiguuns  or  in  close  order  one  by  another.  Correspondently  in 
the  army  must  be  meant  the  close  embodied  phalanx,  or  'main  body  of  men  of 
^var  advancing  on  together  in  regular  order  to  nneet  the  enetny.  Accordingly  ipjj 
frequently  signifies  to  draiv  nigh  towards  an  enemy  for  tlie  purpose  of  giving 
him  battle,  and  ti) is  both  with  and  without  nOnSc*?  following  it.  See  Josh.  viii. 
11.— 1  Sam.  vii.  10.— xvii.  16,  40.— 2  Sam.  x.  13.--Jer.  xlvi.  3.— Joel  iii.  9— 
14."     Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 

i  Compare  Hoseaii.  23. 

%  Isaiah  xix.  22,  24,  25.    Compare  Isaiah  xi.  lo,  16.  and  xxvii.  12,  lo- 


n  f  f 


PROPHECY  XL. 

The  miraculous  overthrow  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy — The 
conversion  of  certain  Jews  in  Jerusalem — The  preservation  and 
conversion  of  the  third  part  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy — 
The  previous  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  Antichrist — The  manifes- 
tation of  Messiah  to  destroy  Antichrist — The  extermination  of 
false  religion— The  destruction  of  Antichrist—The  prevalence 
of  true  religion — The  nature  of  the  plague,  with  which  the  fac^ 
tion  of  Antichrist  will  be  afflicted — The  part,  which  Judah  will 
act — The  final  conversion  and  prosperity  of  Judah. 

Zechariah  xii.  1  *.  The  burden  of  the  word  of  the 
Lord.  Concenimg  Israel  saith  the  Lord,  which  stretcheth 
forth  the  heavens,  and  layeth  the  foundation  of  the  earth, 
and  formeth  the  spirit  of  man  witliin  him  ;  2.  Behold,  I 
will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of  trembling  unto  all  the  peo- 
ples round  about,  even  when  they  t  shall  be  against  Judah, 
in  the  siege  against  Jerusalem.  3.  Even  in  that  day  will 
I  make  Jerusalem  a  stone  of  burden  unto  all  the  peo- 
ples % :  all  that  burden  themselves  with  it  shall  be  cut 
in  pieces,  and  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  shall  be  gather- 
ed togetlier  against  it.  4.  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  I 
will  smite  every  horse  with  astonishment,  and  his  rider 
with  madness:  and  I  will  open  mine  eyes  upon  the  house 
of  Judah,  and  will  smite  every  horse  of  the  people  with 
blindness.  5.  And  the  governors  of  Judah  shall  say  in 
their  heart,  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  are  my  strength 
in  the  Lord  of  hosts  their  God.     6.*  In  that  day  will  I 

*  chap.  xii.  1.]  Mr  Lowth  supposes,  like  myself,  that  this  prophecy  relates 
to  an  Invasion  oi  yudea  at  the  period  of  the  yet  future  restoration  oi  the  jfews  ; 
but  he  imagines,  what  I  cannot  see  the  least  reason  for  believing-,  that  the 
invaders  will  be  the  Turks.  In  fact,  the  Turks  will  have  been  overthrown  as 
a  nation  previous  to  the  restoration  of  the  yews.  This  I  have  already  shewn 
in  my  Comment,  on  Prophecy  XXV,  and  in  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years. 
Vol.  I.  p.  388—393.  (2d  edit.) 

f  They  shall  Z>e.]  I  take  the  singular  verb  n'n^  to  relate  to  the  peoples  con- 
sidered collectively  as  one  great  body.  See  in  the  original  Isaiah  v.  26 — 30. 
This  translation  and  the  exposition  consequent  upon  it  seem  to  me  to  accord 
better  with  the  context  of  the  prophecy,  than  those  proposed  by  Dr.  Blayney. 

t  A  stone  of  burden."]  "  Jerusalem  is  here  compared  to  a  stone  of  great 
weight,  which,  being  too  heavy  for  those  \^ho  attempt  to  lift  it  up  or  remove 
it,  falls  back  upon  them,  and  crushes  them  to  pieces."    Dr.  Blayney  in  lofi. 


356 

make  the  governors  of  Judah  like  an  hearth  of  fire  among 
the  wood,  and  Uke  a  torch  of  fire  in  a  sheaf :  and  they 
shall  devour  all  the  peoples  round  about,  on  the  right 
hand  and  on  the  left :  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  inhabited 
again  in  her  own  place,  even  in  Jerusalem.  7.  The  Lord 
also  shall  save  the  tents  of  Judah*  first,  that  the  glory  of 
the  house  of  David,  and  the  glory  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  t,  do  not  magnif)*  themselves  against  Judah. 
8.  In  that  day  shall  the  Lord  defend  the  inhabitants  of 
,  Jerusalem  :  and  he  that  is  feeble  among  them  at  that  day 
shall  be  as  David  ;  and  the  house  of  David  shall  be  as 
God,  as  the  angel  Jehovah  before  them. 

9.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will 
seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations  that  come  against  Jerusa- 
lem. 10.  And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
of  supplications  :  and  they  shall  look  upon  him  whom 
they  have  pierced;  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him,  as  one 
mounieth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness  for 
him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first-born.  11.  In 
that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in  Jerusalem,  as 
the  mourning  of  the  vintage- shouting  of  RimmonJ  in 
the  valley  of  Megiddon.  12.  And  the  land  shall  mourn, 
every  family  apart :  the  family  of  the  house  of  David 
apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of 
Nathan  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  13.  The  family  of 
the  house  of  Levi  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  14.  All 
the  families  that  remain,  every  family  apart,  and  their 
wives  apart,  xiii.  1.  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  foun- 
tain opened  to  the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness.  2.  And  it 
shall  be  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  I  will  cut 

*  Tfie  tents  of  yudah.']  "  The  bndy  of  the  Jewish  nation,  that  encamp  in 
the  open  country."     Mr.  Lowth  in  h>c. 

f  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.']  "The  people  that  clefendJerusalem  from 
within."     Mr,  Lowth  in  loc. 

t  The  vintage-shMnlng  of  Simmon.']  The  word  m^n,  or  as  it  is  here  written 
TWj  signifies  loud  shouting,  either  as  of  men  treading  grapes,  in  which  sense 
it  is  used  in  Isaiah  xvi.  10,  and  Jerem.  xxv.  30  ;  or  as  of  soldiers  encouraging 
one  aiiother  to  battle,  in  wliich  sense  it  is  used  in  Jeremiah  li.  14.  The  second 
signification  is  plainly  borrowed  from  the  first,  the  treading  nf  the  ivine-press 
being  a  constant  sciipUiral  image  of  the  slaughter  of  a  batdc-  See  Parkhurst's 
Heb.  Lex.  Vox  iin. 


^i:  357 

off  the  names  of  the  idols*  from  the  earth,  and  they  shall 
not  be  mentioned  any  more  ;  and  also  the  prophets  and 
the  unclean  spirit  will  I  cause  to  pass  from  out  of  the 
earth.  3.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  any  one  shall 
prophesy  any  more,  that  his  father  and  his  mother,  \\'ho 
begat  him,  shall  say  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  not  live, 
because  thou  hast  spoken  falshood  in  the  name  of  Oie 
Lord :  and  his  father  and  his  mother,  who  begat  him, 
shall  thrust  him  through  when  he  prophesieth.  4.  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  the  prophets  shall  be 
ashamed  every  one  of  his  vision,  when  he  prophesied  f  ; 
and  they  shall  not  wear  a  garment  of  hair:{:  in  order  to 
deceive.  5.  But  he  shall  say,  I  am  not  a  prophet,  I  am  a 
man  that  tillcth  the  ground  ;  for  a  man  hath  had  the  pro- 
perty of  me^  from  my  youth.  6.  And,  when  one  shall  say 
unto  him.  What  are  those  wounds  ||  in  thy  hands  ?  then 
he  shall  say,  They  are  what  I  inflicted  in  the  house  of 
my  friends. 

•  Idols.']  "Ezekiel,  confessedly  prophesying'  oitlie  latter  times,  when  Israel 
and  yttdah,  incoi'porated  again  into  one  nation,  shall  return  into  their  own 
land,  says,  to  the  same  effect  as  Zechariah,  Neither  shall  they  defile  themselves 
any  more  ivith  dieir  idols,  nor  with  their  detestable  things,  nor  luith  all  their 
transgressions  (Ezek.  xxxvii.  23.)— We  are  taught  to  expect  that  the  conversion 
of  the  yews  will  be  followed  by  a  further  reforination  of  the  ivorld  (Rom.  xi. 
15)  ;  and  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  kingdovis  of  this  world  shall  becoine 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ  (Rev.  xi.  15),  and  the  beast  and  ivith 
him  the  false  prophet  shall  be  cast  into  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  (Rev.  xix. 
20)."     Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 

f  Of  his  vision  when  he  prophesied.]  "  That  is,  of  the  extraordinary  com- 
munication, which  he  pretended  to  have  received,  when  he  uttered  a  pro- 
phecy which  he  knew  to  be  false."     Dr.  Blavney. 

t  A  garvient  of  hair.]  "  See  2  Kings  i.  8.  Matt.  iil.  4.  They  shall  not 
affect  the  dress  of  the  old  prophets,  in  order  to  pass  off  their  impostures." 
Dr.  Blayney. 

§  Hath  had  the  property  ofm.e.]  "  Disclaiming  all  pretensions  to  the  cha- 
racter of  a /)ro/)/ie<,  he  shall  profess  himself  to  be  no  other  than  a  plain  ordi- 
nary labouring  man,  employed  in  husbandry  business  by  those,  whose  pro- 
perty he  had  been,  quasi  adstrictus  glebes,  from  his  youth.  Mr.  Harmer's 
observations  on  this  p.assage,  which  he  justly  parallels  with  the  declaration 
of  Amos,  that  he  was  no  prophet,  nor  the  son  of  a  prophet,  but  an  herdsman  and 
a  gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit,  go  to  shew  the  incompatibility  of  such  active  and 
laborious  employments  with  the  retired  and  sedentary  life  of  those,  who 
were  trained  up  in  the  schools  or  colleges  of  the  prophets,  in  order  to 
qualify  themselves  for  that  profession."     Dr.  Blayney. 

^  Those  wounds.]  Two  ancient  usages  are  clearly  alluded  to  here  :  *'the 
one,  that  of  the  idolatrovis  priests  and  prophets,  who  sought  to  engage  the 
attention  and  favour  of  their  deity  by  cutting  and  slashing-  themselves,  as  the 
priests  of  Baal  did  (1  Kings  xviii.  28) ;  the  other,  that  of  those  who  cut  them- 
selves as  a  token  of  their  grief  and  mourning-  for  their  deceased  relations 
and  friends.  It  appears  also  from  Jer.  xlviii.  37,  that  these  cuttings  were 
performed  on  the  hands  in  particular.  When  tiierefore  the  man,  now  ashamed 
of  his  pretensions  to  prophesy,  came  to  be  challenged  for  those  scars  that 


358  ,- 

1,  Awake,  O  sword,  against  my  shepherd,  and  against 
the  mighty  man  my  neighbour,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
Smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered;  for 
I  will  turn  my  hands  even  against  the  mean  ones.  8.  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  land,  saith  the  Lord, 
two  parts  therein  shall  be  cut  off,  and  die  ;  but  the  tliird 
shall  be  left  therein.  9.  And  I  will  bring  the  third  part 
through  the  fire,  and  will  refine  them  as  silver  is  refined, 
and  will  try  them  as  gold  is  tried :  they  shall  call  on  my 
name,  and  I  will  hear  them :  I  will  say.  It  is  my  people ; 
and  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my  God, 

xiv.  1.  Behold,  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  and  thy 
spoil  shall  be  divided  in  the  midst  of  thee.  2.  For  I  will 
gather  all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to  battle :  and  the 
city  shall  be  taken*,  and  the  houses  rifled,  and  the  women 
ravished :  and  half  of  the  city  shall  go  forth  into  captivity, 
and  the  residue  of  the  people  shall  not  be  cut  off  from 
the  city. 

-were  visible  on  his  hands,  he  would  deny  them  to  have  proceeded  from  any 
idolatrous  cause,  but  would  have  them  thought  to  be  marks  left  by  those 
wounds  which  he  gave  himself  in  the  house  of  his  relations  and  friends,  in 
the  paroxisms  of  his  grief  for  the  loss  of  tliem."  Dr.  Blayney.  See  also  Mr. 
Lowth  in  loc. 

*  The  city  shall  be  taten."]  I  cannot  but  think  the  opinion  adopted  by  some, 
that  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  is  here  intended,  very  incongru- 
ous with  the  whole  tenor  of  the  prophecy.  Wlicn  tl\e  city  was  taken  by 
Titus,  not  merely  half  of  the  inhabitants  were  made  captive,  and  the  other 
half  left ;  but  the  whole  nation  was  dispersed,  insomuch  that  none  were  left 
except  a  few  stragglers  compared  by  Isaiah  to  the  gleanings  of  the  vintage. 
So  again  :  immediately  after  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem,  here  predicted  by 
2tcchariah,  the  Lord  will  go  forth  and  figlit  against  those  very  nations  which 
had  just  taken  it.  yudah  likewise  will  fight  ag'ainst  them  ;  agreeably  to  the 
former  declaration  of  the  prophet,  that  God  would  make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of 
trembling'  and  a  burdensome  stone  unto  all  the  peoples  that  had  gathered 
themselves  together  to  besiege  it.  It  is  superfluous  to  observe,  that  no  such 
events  followed  the  sacking  of  yeritsalein  by  the  Romans.  In  short  both  the 
whole  tenor,  and  the  whole  clu'onology,  of  the  prophecy  compel  me  to  sup- 
pose, that  Zechariah  is  here  speaking  of  the  sam£  taking  of  yerusalem  by 
Antichrist,  that  Daniel  so  plainly  foretells  when  lie  declares,  that  that  great 
enemy  of  God,  ere  he  comes  to  his  end,  shall  plant  the  curtains  of  his  tents 
between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain. 

"It  is  impossible,"  as  Dr.  Blayney  justly  observes,  "  to  reconcile  these 
words  the  rest  of  the  people  shall  not  be  cut  off  from  the  city  with  the  state  of 
^acls  at  the  time  when  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Romans.  For  at  that  time 
we  are  well  assured  by  Josephus  who  was  an  eye  witness,  not  only  all  that 
were  in  the  city  were  either  slain  or  made  captives,  but  also  the  city  itself 
was  razed  to  the  ground,  so  as  to  leave  no  vestige  of  an  habitation.  How 
then  could  there  be  a  residue  not  cut  oft'  from  the  city  ?  And,  if  there  has 
been  no  capture  since,  to  which  these  words  can  be  applied,  we  must  loofc 
•forward  to  futurity  for  the  completion  of  the  prophecy." 


,359 

3.  Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth,  and  fight  against 
those  nations,  as  when  he  fighteth  in  the  day  of  battle. 

4.  And  his  feet  shall  stand  in  that  day  upon  the  mount 
of  Olives,  which  is  before  Jerusalem  on  the  east :  and 
the  mount  of  Olives  shall  cleave  in  the  midst  thereof 
toward  the  east  and  toward  the  west,  and  there  shall  be 
a  very  great  valley  :  and  half  of  the  mountain  shall  re- 
move toward  the  north,  and  half  of  it  towards  the  south. 

5.  And  the  valley  of  the  mountains  shall  be  choked  up*; 
(for  the  valley  of  the  mountains  will  reach  near)  and  it 
shall  be  choked  up,  as  it  was  choked  up  by  the  earth- 
quake in  the  days  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah :  and  the 
Lord  shall  go,  the  God  of  all  saints,  with  thee.  6.  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  there  shall  not  be 
light,  but  cold  and  a  thick  fog  f .  7.  And  there  shall  be 
one  day  (known  it  is  unto  the  Lord  J)  neither  day  nor 
night :  yet  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  evening  time  that 
it  shall  be  light.  8.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
that  living  waters  §  shall  go  out  from  Jerusalem ;  half 
of  them  toward  the  eastern  sea,  and  half  of  them  toward 
the  hinder  sea :  in  summer  and  in  winter  shall  it  be, 
9.  And  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth.  In 
that  day  the  Lord  shall  be  one  ;  10.  And  his  name  one  f{ 
shall  encompass  the  whole  earth,  as  the  plain  from  Geba 
to  Rimmon  south  of  Jerusalem  j  and  she  T[  shall  be  raised 

•  Choked  u/).]     See  Dr.  Blayney  in  loc.  • 

f  Cold  and  a  thick  fog."]     See  Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 

i  Knotiin  it  is  unto  the  Lord."]  "  This  sentence  seem*  t»  have  been  insertetC 
by  way  of  prolepsis,  to  the  following  effect :--- €uch  a  phenomenon,  though 
it  may  appear  extraordinary,  is  however  worthy  of  belief,  because  revealed 
by  God,  to  whom  both  the  matter  and  the  time  is  known.  So  it  is  said,  Acts 
XV.  18,  KnoHun  unto  God  are  all  his  viorks  from  the  beginning  of  the  world."  D:-. 
Blayney  in  loc. 

§  Living  viaters^     ••  By  living  vsaters  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  ai^ 
m^ant  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  gospel  dispensation.  See  Isaiah  xii.  3.— xliv.  3 
— Iv.  l.---Jer.  ii.  1:3. — Ezek.  xlvii.  1,  &c.— Joel  iii.  18.— John  iv.  10.-- vii.  38,, 
39.     That  these  benefits  will  be  diffused  more  extensively  by  the  restoration 
of  the  yews,  is  not  obscurely  intimated,  Rom.  xi.  15."    Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 

(I  His  name  one.'\  By  the  name  nf  Jehovah  I  conceive  to  be  meant  the  pro- . 
fession  <f  his  true  religion,  which,  it  is  here  foretold,  should  compasa  or  per- 
vade the  whole  earth,  as  it  had  done  the  country  of  .ludea  included  within 
the  plain  extending  from  Geba  north  to  Rimmon  south  of  Jerusalem^— TAf 
universal  propagation  of  God's  name  or  religion  is  predicted,  ajs  in.  other  places 
of  Scripture,  so  particularly  Isaiah  lix.  19. — Mai.  i.  11."     Dr  Blayney  in  loc 

ly  She.'}  "  Thsit  is,  yerusaleTn,  which  is  here,  as  elsewhere,  represented, 
as  a  female  fgure,  rarsed  fr.om  the  ground,  and  sitting  tranquil  on  her  ancieiBt 
sr^at."     Dr.  Blavney  in  loc. 


360 

up,  and  sit  in  her  own  place,  from  Benjamin's  gate  mito 
the  place  of  the  first  gate,  unto  the  corner-gate,  and  from 
the  to\ver  of  Hananeel  unto  the  king's  wine-presses. 
11.  And  men  shall  dwell  in  her,  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  utter  destruction  * ;  but  Jerusalem  shall  sit  in 
security. 

12.  And  this  shall  be  the  plague,  wherewith  the  Lord 
will  smite  all  the  people  that  have  fought  against  Jerusa- 
lem :  their  flesh  shall  consume  away,  while  they  stand 
upon  their  feet ;  and  their  eyes  shall  consume  away  in 
their  holes  ;  and  their  tongue  shall  consume  away  in  their 
mouth.  13.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  a 
vgreat  tumult  from  the  Lord  shall  be  among  them ;  and 
they  shall  lay  hold  every  one  of  them  on  the  hand  of  his 
neighbour,  and  his  hand  shall  rise  up  against  the  hand  of 
his  neighbour.  14.  And  Judah  also  shall  fight  at  Jeru- 
salem :  and  the  wealth  of  all  the  nations  round  about 
shall  be  gathered  together,  gold,  and  silver,  and  apparel, 
in  great  abundance.  15.  And  so  shall  be  the  plague  of 
the  horse,  of  the  mule,  of  the  camel,  of  the  ass,  and  of 
all  the  beasts  that  shall  be  in  these  tents,  as  this  plague. 

16.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  one,  that  is 
left  of  all  the  nations  which  came  against  Jerusalem,  shall 
go  up  even  from  year  to  year,  to  worship  the  King,  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  and  to  keep  the  feast  of  the  tabernacles. 

17.  And  it  shall  be,  that  whoso  will  not  come  up  of  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  unto  Jerusalem,  to  worship  the 
King  the  Lord  of  hosts,  even  upon  them  shall  be  no  rain. 

18.  And,  if  the  family  of  Egypt  go  not  up,  and  come 
not,  although  there  be  not  upon  them  the  plague  t  where- 
with the  Lord  will  smite  the  nations  that  come  not  up  to 
keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles  ;   19.  The  same  shall  be  the 

*  There  shall  he  no  more  utter  destruction.']  "  1  he  city  shall  never  be  utterly 
destroyed,  as  it\vas  by  the  Chaldeans  and  Romans."     Mr.  Lovvth  in  loc. 

•j-  Although  there  he  not  upon  them  the  plague.]  "  That  is,  althougli  they  be 
not  visited  precisely  in  tlie  same  manner  as  the  other  nations,  namely  with  a 
want  of  ^ain,"^vhich  of  itself  would  be  no  punishment  to  tliat  country  where 
by  tlie  situation  of  the  country  no  rain  usually  falls  ;  yet,  as  it  follows  in  the 
next  verse,  tiiey  should  not  be  exempt  from,  the  same  punishment  with  the 
other  nations  that  sinned  in  like  manner,  namely  famine,  whicli  would  be  the 
^sure  consequence,  as  Abp.  Newcome  observes,  if  the  rains  did  not  fall  in 
Ethiopia  so  as  to  cause  an  overflowing  of  the  Nile.  This  interpretation  is 
according'  to  the  present  reading  of  the  text,  which  needs  no  alteration" 
■Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 


361 

punishment  of  Egypt,  and  the  punishment  of  all  the  na- 
tions, that  come  not  up  to  keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

20.  In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the 
horses,  Holiness  unto  the  Lord;  and  the  pots  in  the 
Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls  before  the  altar. 
21.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Judah  shall  be 
holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts :  and  all  they  that  sacri- 
fice shjill  come  and  take  of  them,  and  seethe  therein :  and 
in  that  day  there  shall  be  no  more  a  trafficker  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord  of  hosts  *. 

COMMENTARY. 

From  this  concluding  and  very  minute  prophecy  of 
Zechariah,  we  learn  several  most  interesting  particulars 
respecting  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  Judah  f.  A 
great  confederacy  of  many  nations  is  to  invade  Palestine 
and  to  besiege  Jerusalem.  This  confederacy^  when  we 
consider  the  era  to  which  it  is  assigned,  can  only  be  the 
same  as  that  of  DanieVs  wilful  king :  in  other  w^ords,  it 

*  Every  pot— no  more  a  trafficker.']  "The  meaning  of  this  passage  seems 
to  be,  that  every  thing  in  Judah  and  Jerusalem  should  be  accounted  so  holy 
and  acceptable  to  God,  that  the  common  utensils  in  their  houses  might  be 
used  for  the  purpose  of  sacrificing  without  offence  ;  so  that  those  who  came 
to  sacrifice  might  take  and  use  them  indiscriminately ;  which  would  effec- 
tually supersede  that  traffic,  which  was  carried  on  in  the  temple  for  the 
supply  of  such  things  as  were  wanting  on  those  occasions.  Our  Saviour 
speaks  of  the  traffickers  in  the  temph^  in  his  days,  whom  he  drove  out,  and 
forbad  to  make  his  father's  house  a  house  of  merchandise."  Dr.  Blayney 
in  loc. 

f  "It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive,"  says  Dr.  Blayney,  "that  the  prophecies 
in  this  and  the  two  following  chapters  (Zech.  xii.  xiii.  xiv.)  relate  to  future 
times— But,  without  pretending  to  determine  precisely  concerning  the  inva- 
ders, the  substance  of  the  prophecy  in  this  (Chap,  xii.),  and  on  to  the  seventh 
verse  of  the  next  chapter,  will  be  found  to  amount  to  this  ;  that  Jerusalem 
will  be  besieged  by  a  multitude  of  hostile  nations,  to  the  great  terror  of  the 
people  in  its  vicinity,  as  well  as  of  "Judah  Itself;  but  that  the  attempts  of 
those  nations  will  be  frustrated  through  the  special  interposition  of  the  Deity, 
and  will  terminate  in  their  total  discomfiture  and  ruin,  and  in  the  permanent 
peace  and  prosperity  of  the  victorious  yevis.  After  which  the  Jeius  will  be 
brougiit  at  length  to  see  and  lament  the  sin  of  their  forefathers  in  putting 
their  Messiah  to  death  ;  and  thereupon  will  have  the  means  of  purification 
and  atonement  afforded  them ;  and,  being  thus  cleansed  from  past  guilt,  will 
renounce  all  their  former  offensive  practices,  and  carefully  abstain  from  a 
future  repetition  of  them"  (Dr.  Blayney  in  loc).  Dr.  Blayney  thinks  it  pro- 
hable,  that  the  covibination  agtfinst  judah,  here  predicted,  is  the  same  as  that 
(if  Gog  and  Magog,  iovetolA  by  Ezekiel.  I  differ  from  him  for  the  reasons 
\rhich  I  have  already  abundantly  assigned  when  treating  of  that  remarkable 
I^rophecy.  It  clearly  appears  to  me,  that  the  subject  of  the  present  predic- 
tion is  the  overthro^i'  of  Antichrist. 

46 


362 

is  the  confederacy  predicted  l:iy  St.  John,  of  which  Anti- 
christ^ then  become  the  last  head  of  the  Roman  beast^  is 
destined  to  be  the  leader.  To  the  armies  then  of  Anti- 
christ, God  declares,  that  he  will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup 
of  trembling  and  a  stone  of  burden  ;  and  that  he  will 
smite  every  horse  with  astonishment  and  blindness,  and 
his  rider  with  madness.  Afterwards  however  we  learn, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  final  preservation  and  victory 
of  Judahy  Antichrist  with  his  congregated  nations  shall 
first  succeed  in  making  himself  master  of  Jerusalem ; 
where  he  will  conduct  himself  ^vith  his  wonted  cruelty 
and  profligacy.  Half  of  the  hihabitants  he  will  upon  this 
occasion  make  his  captives,  but  the  rest  of  them  shall 
not  be  cut  off  from  the  city.  And  now,  while  elate  with 
victory  and  breathing  vengeance  against  his  remaining 
enemies  he  is  leading  his  host  to  the  valley  of  Megiddo, 
suddenly  the  glory  of  the  Shechinah  will  appear  in  the 
midst  of  Jerusalem  *,'and  the  Lord  himself  will  go  forth 
to  fight  against  the  nations,  as  when  he  fighteth  in  the 
day  of  battle.  Mount  Olivet  will  own  its  present  God  f, 
and  cleave  asunder  beneath  him.  An  earthquake  will 
announce  the  descent  of  the  triumphant  Messiah ;  and 
the  king  of  saints  will  go  forth  to  war  in  behalf  of  his 
ancient  people.  Then  will  he  suddenly  smite  with  a 
horrible  plague  all  the  peoples  that  have  fought  against 
Jerusalem,  and  cause  them  madly  to  unsheath  every  man 
his  sword  against  his  neighbour.  Judah  likewise  shall 
fight  against  them  :  for  in  that  day  the  Lord  will  make 
the  govei'7iors  of  Judah  like  an  hearth  of  fire  among  the 
wood,  and  like  a  torch  of  fire  in  a  sheaf;  and  they  shall 
devour  all  the  peoples  round  about,  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left. 

Nearly  about  the  same  time,  and  most  probably  imme- 
diately before  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  and  the  subse- 

*  Zechar.  ii.  5,  8. 

f  "  The  glory  of  the  Lord,  that  is  the  Shechinah  or  s}  mbol  of  God's  pre- 
sence, when  it  departed  from  the  city  and  temple,  settletl  itself  upon  the 
mount  of  Olives  (Ezek.  xi.  23.).  So,  when  God  shall  return  to  Jerusalem, 
and  make  it  the  seat  of  liis  presence  again,  it  shall  return  by  the  same  way 
it  departed  (See  Ezek.  xliii.  2.).  We  may  add,  that,  when  our  Lord  ascended 
from  the  mount  of  Olives,  the  angels  told  his  disciples,  Iw  should  come  airain 
in  like  manner, Xh-iX'is,  in  a  visible  and  glorious  appearance  at  the  same  place  ^ 
Mr.  Lowth  in  loc. 


363 

'iiuent  destruction  of  the  nations,  such  of  the  Jews  as  had 
been  restored  by  Antichrist,  and  placed  in  the  capital  of 
Palestine,  will  be  converted  to  the  faith.  They  will  look 
upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  mourn  for  him 
as  one  that  mourneth  for  an  only  son.  This  conversion  to 
protestant  Christianity,  and  consequent  dereliction  of  the 
cause  of  Antichrist,  is  in  fact  the  only  reason  that  can  be 
assigned  for  his  turning  his  arms  against  his  late  allies. 
We  may  collect  from  Daniel,  that,  after  he  had  settled 
them  in  Jerusalem,  and  while  he  was  engaged  in  the 
conquest  of  Egypt,  suddenly  he  hears  fi'om  the  north  and 
from  the  east  (as  he  would  do,  supposing  him  to  be  then 
in  Egypt)  the  unpleasant  tidings  of  the  landing  of  the 
great  maritime  power  with  the  converted  Jews,  and  of  the 
penitence  and  defection  of  those  whom  he  had  himself 
restored  in  an  unconverted  state.  Enraged  at  the  intel- 
ligence, he  goes  forth  menacing  utter  destruction  to  all 
his  opponents:  and,  as  Zechariah  similarly  predicts,  he 
plants  the  curtains  of  his  tents  between  the  seas  in  the 
glorious  holy  mountain ;  or,  in  other  words,  he  besieges 
and  takes  Jerusalem  *.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  he  shall 
€ome  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him. 

Here  it  must  be  observed,  that  Zechariah  very  re- 
markably divides  the  restored  of  Judah  into  two  parts ; 
styling  the  one  the  tents  of  Judah,  and  the  other  the  house 
of  David  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem:  and  he  asserts, 
that  the  Lord  shall  save  the  tents  of  Judah  first  f.  After- 
wards he  proceeds  to  describe  tlie  conversion  of  the  house 
of  David  and  Jerusalem,  as  taking  place  subsequently  to 
their  restoration.  Judah  in  tents  then  is  placed  in  contra- 
distinction to  Judah  in  Jerusalem  ;  Judah  the  first  saved 
by  the  laord,  to  Judah  not  brought  to  salvation  till  after- 
wards. This  exactly  accords  with  the  opinion,  which 
I  have  more  than  once  had  occasion  to  advance :  that 
part  of  the  Jexvs  will  be  restored,  in  a  converted  state,  by 

*  Compare  Dan.  xi.  41—45,  where  the  route  of  Antichrist  is  very  minutely 
described. 

f  "  Tlie  meaning'  here  is,  that  God  would  save  the  tents  of  yuitah  first,  or 
previously  to  any  other ;  and  for  this  flie  reason  immediately  follows,  that 
the  house  of  David  and  the  inhabitants  of  yerusalem  might  not  be  tempted  to 
value  themselves  too  hig-hly  on  the  preference  given  to  them  (supposing  that 
had  been  the  case)  above  the  rest  of  yudah."     Dr.  Blayney  in  loc. 


364 

the  great  maritime  power ;  and  part^  in  an  unconverted 
state,  by  Antichrist.  The  converted  Jews  are  described 
as  being  in  tents  ;  because  they  are  attached  to  the  army 
of  the  maritime  power,  and  have  not  yet  acquired  a  per- 
manent settlement :  while  the  unconverted  Jews,  whose 
conversion  in  their  own  country  Zechariah  foretells  in 
the  present  prophecy,  are  said  to  be  dxvelling  in  Jerusa- 
lem, Here  they  are  besieged  by  Antichrist ;  and,  as  a 
just  punishment  for  their  former  impiety,  several  of  them, 
so  far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  are  suflered  to  perish. 
Such  a  fate  precisely  agrees  with  the  many  predictions, 
which  ^"ery  explicitly  declare,  that  the  Jews  shall  return 
in  a  time  of  great  trouble,  and  shall  be  made  severely  to 
suffer  in  the  course  of  their  restoration  *.  In  short,  these 
two  divisions  of  Judah  are  clearly  those  two  divisions  of 
the  flock,  which  Ezekiel  calls  the  sheep  and  the  goats  f. 
The  overthrow  of  Antichrist,  as  I  have  repeatedly  had 
occasion  to  observe,  will  take  place  in  Palestine,  or  the 

*  .Terem.  xxx.  1 — 17.  Ezek.  xx.  33—38. 

■}■  See  Ezekiel  xxxiv.  In  the  first  edition  of  my  Dissertation  on  the  1260 
years,  1  was  right  in  asserting,  that  this  passage  plainly  taught  us  to  expect 
a  two-fold  restoration  oj"  the  jfews  ;  but  at  that  time  I  had  by  no  means  a  clear 
conception  of  the  precise  meaning  of  it.  Hence  I  mistook  the  import  of  the 
expression  *'  the  Lord  shall  save  the  tents  of  Judah  first ;"  supposing  it  to 
denote,  that  the  division  called  ^udah  should  be  restored  previous  to  the  re- 
storation of  the  other  division  called  the  house  of  David  and  the  inhabitants  of 
yerusalem  .•  but,  how  tlie  one  was  to  be  distinguished  from  the  othei",  1  could 
not  then  conceive  ;  being  aware  from  their  description,  that  both  the  divisions 
must  be  composed  of  ye=ws  properly  so  called.  I  readily  acknowledge,  that, 
■when  that  work  was  first  published,  I  did  not  entertain  the  slightest  sus- 
picion that  tlie  hottse  of  Israel  would  ever  be  restored  separately  from  the 
house  of  yudah,  and  that  afterwards  the  two  would  coalesce  into  one  king- 
dom. Taking  up  the  common  notion,  that  the  ten  tribes  are  irrecoverably  lost 
excepting  such  individuals  as  reitirnedfrom  Babylon  ii'ith  yudah,  I  had  a  con- 
fused idea,  that  all  those  prophecies,  which  speak  of  the  restoration  both  of 
yudah  and  Ephraini,  meant  that  of  Epliraini  only  as  included  in  that  of  yudah. 
A  more  exact,  laborious,  and  connected,  view  of  the  subject  has  now  led  me 
to  adopt  a  very  different  opinion,  Not  that  the  j^resent  passage  of  Zechariah 
relates  to  the  twofold  restoration  of  yudah  and  Ephrai))i:  in  sup]50sing  it  to 
relate  to  a  twofold  restoration  (f  yudah  only,  I  was  perfectly  right ;  but  I  erred 
in  fancying  it  to  relate  to  a  two-fold  successive  restoration  of  Judah.  I  am 
now  convinced,  that  it  predicts  a  two-fold  contemporancnus  restoration  of 
Judah,  previous  to  the  subsequent  restoration  of  Israel :  the  one  division  of' 
yudah,  accurately  denominated  the  tents  of  yudah,  will  be  first  brought  to 
salvation,  being  restored  in  a  converted  state  by  the  great  maritime  poiuer  ; 
the  other  division  of  yudah,  no  less  accurately  denominated  the  house  of  David 
and  the  inhabitants  of  yerusalem,  will  afterwards  be  brought  to  salvation, 
being  restored  in  an  unconverted  state  and  for  mere  political  purposes  by 
Antichrist.     See  my  Dissertation,  vol.  ii.  p.  395,  396  (Ist  edit.). 


365 

region  between  the  seas :  and  St.  John  even  tells  us  the 
particular  part  of  that  country,  where  this  great  event 
will  happen;  informing  us,  that  it  is  called  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  Armageddon,  or  the  cu7'smg  to  utter  destruction  at 
Megiddon.  It  is  remarkable  that  Zechariah  has  an  allu- 
sion to  the  same  place,  which  he  interweaves  with  his 
account  of  the  penitence  manifested  by  the  converted 
Jews.  "  Their  mourning,"  says  he,  "  shall  be  like  the 
mourning  at  the  vintage-shouting  of  Rimmon  in  the  val- 
ley of  Megiddon."  He  may,  I  believe,  primarily  refer 
to  the  inourning  on  account  of  the  overthrow  of  Josiah, 
which  happened  in  this  valley  *  :  but,  from  the  peculi- 
arity of  his  phi^aseology,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think, 
that  he  ultimately  though  covertly  alludes  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Antichrist.  Adopting  the  metaphorical  language 
of  Isaiali,  language  adopted  on  the  same  occasion  by  St. 
John,  he  directs  our  attention  to  the  vintage-shouting  of 
Rimmon,  which  is  a  small  town  in  the  valley  and  neigh- 
bourhood  of  Megiddon.  Hence  we  may  naturally  sup- 
pose, that  this  shouting  is  the  shouting  when  the  vintage 
ofGod^s  wrath  is  gathered  in,  and  when  the  Almighty 
Word  treads  the  wine-press  of  the  mystic  Edom  and 
sprinkles  his  garments  with  the  blood  of  his  enemies. 
The  other  Rimmon,  which  the  prophet  afterwards  men- 
tions in  connection  with  Gebaf,  is  a  different  town  of 
the  same  name,  which  lies  south-west  of  Jerusalem. 

The  same  subject  is  continued  in  the  I3th  chapter. 
When  a  fountain  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness  is  opened 
to  the  house  of  David,  and  when  the  inhabitajits  of  Jeru- 
salem have  availed  themselves  of  the  mediatorial  sacrifice 
of  Christ  J,  then  all  idolatry  and  all  false  prophets  shall 
for  ever  cease  among  them.  They  shall  at  once  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  true  religion  and  temporal  security ;  for 
in  that  day  the  Lord  will  smite  him,  who  is  both  their 
oppressor  and  the  enemy  of  his  Church.  The  sword  of 
divine  justice  shall  awake  against  Antichi'istk,  against 

*  2  Kings  xxlii.  29,  30.  f  Zechar.  xiv.  10. 

+  •*  The  blood  nf  Christ,  i^ohich  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  is  manifestly  here 
intended,  the  yeivs  being-  upon  their  conversion  and  repentance  to  be  admit- 
ted to  all  the  privileg-es  of  the  Christian  covenant."     Dr.  lilayney  in  loc. 

§  After  having  examined  tiiis  passage  as  carefully  as  I  am  able,  I  rest  in  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Blayney,  that  it  has  not  the  most  distant  relation  to  the  death 


366 

that  presumptuous  shepherd  or  ruler,  that  mighty  tyrant ; 
who,  after  having  spoken  marvellous  things  against  the 
God  of  gods,  at  length  in  the  last  days,  even  when  the 

and  sufferivgs  of  Christ.  I  believe  that  our  Lord  cites  a  part  of  It  merely  as 
a  proverbial  saying',  laying'  it  down  as  a  matter  of  course,  for  the  followers 
to  disperse  when  their  leader  was  taken  off.  The  arguments,  which  Dr. 
Eveleigli  brings  to  prove  that  the  word  n^DjJ  denotes  the  equality  and  consul?- 
stantiality  of  the  Pather  and  the  Son,  do  not  appear  to  me  conclusive.  The 
word  itself  signifies  a  neighbour  ov  felloia-citizen,  in  which  sense  it  frequently 
occurs  in  the  book  of  Leviticus.  Now,  when  one  man  is  said  to  be  the  neigh- 
bour of  another,  UiatfAej;  are  of  the  sa'ine  nature  follows  indeed  of  course,  but 
certainly  not  because  they  are  neighbours  but  because  they  are  inen  ;  tliat  is  to 
say,  the  idea  of  sameness  of  nature  is  incidental,  it  does  not  spring  out  of  tlie 
term  iieighbour.  So  again,  the  circumstance  of  two  men  being  neighbours  or 
fellonv-citizens  does  not  pro've  that  those  two  men  are  equal  or  upon  the  same 
level  in  society.  This  being  the  case,  if  a  person  be  said  for  some  reason  or 
another  to  be  the  neighbour  of  God,  I  see  not  how  either  consubstantiality  or 
equality  is  at  all  necessarily  implied.  The  subject  of  the  present  prophecy  is 
the  restoration  of  yudah  and  the  overthrovi  of  a  m,ighty  confederacy  before  Jeru- 
saleni.  In  the  course  of  it  we  are  told,  that  some  shepherd  or  prince,  some 
mighty  man  who  made  himself  the  neighbour  of  God,  should  be  smitten  by 
a  sword  :  tliat  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty  should  be  kindled  not  only  against 
him,  but  against  the  little  ones  or  mean  ones ;  or  those,  as  Dr.  Blayney  justly 
observes,  "that  are  usually  held  of  less  account,  the  common  people  :"  that, 
in  consequence  of  this  display  of  the  divine  vengeance,  such  as  escaped 
should  be  scattered :  that  these  scattered  ones  should  compose  the  third  part 
of  the  whole,  the  two  other  parts  having-  been  cut  off:  and  that  this  third 
part,  consisting  of  the  scattered  ones,  sho\dd  by  the  severity  of  their  suffer- 
ings be  converted  to  the  profession  of  the  truth.  In  all  this  there  is  so  much 
that  is  applicable  to  the  general  drift  of  the  ])rophec.y,  and  so  little  that  is 
applicable  to  the  times  of  our  Lord,  that  I  think  with  Dr.  Blayney,  "perhaps 
the  passage  in  question  miglit  never  have  been  considered  differently  from 
the  rest,  Iiad  not  our  Saviour  thought  fit  to  make  use  of  it  for  the  purpose  of 
•illustration." 

A  shepherd  denotes  a  prince.  But  lahat  remarkable  prince  is  to  be  smitten 
at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  yudali,  except  Antichrist  now  become  the  last 
head  of  the  Eoman  beast  ?  God  styles  him  viy  shepherd,  as  he  styles  Nebucliad- 
nezzar  wj'  servant,  merely  because  he  is  an  instrument  of  vengeance  in  his 
iiand.  And  lie  speaks  of  him  as  being  mighty,  and  as  making  himself  his 
neighbour,  because  he  attempts  as  it  were  to  elbow  the  Almiglity  out  of  his 
own  peculiar  residence,  the  glorious  holy  mountain  of  Zion.  I  take  the  idea 
t')  be  something  similar  to  that  of  Milton  : 

'•  The  chief  were  those,  who  from  the  pit  of  bell 

"  Roaming;  to  seek  their  prey  on  earth  durst  fix 

'•  ITieir  seats  lonfj  after  next  the  seat  of  God, 

"Their  altai's  by  his  altar,  gods  lulor'd 

■'  Among  the  nations  round,  and  durst  abiile 

•'  Jehovah  thundering  out  of  Zion,  thron'd 

"Between  the  Cherubim;  yea, often  plac'd 

"Within  his  sanctuary  itself  their  shrines, 

*  .\bominations ;  .md  with  oirsed  things 

*-'  His  holy  rites  and  solemn  feasts  profanM, 

'•  .\.u<l  with  their  darkness  durst  affront  his  lif^Iil.'' 

This  inteqiretation  exactly  harmonizes  with  the  general  tenor  of  the  prc- 
.-iMit  prediction,  and  with  what  we  are  taught  to  expect  by  the  other  inspired 
Tx'riters  at  tlie  eventful  period  of  rAe  restoration  of  yudah.  Antichrist  will  then 
place  himself  in  the  mo'ant  of  God.  But  the  sword  of  the  Messiah  will  speedi- 


367 

judgments  of  heaven  are  abroad,  dares  to  make  himself 
the  immediate  neighbour  of  the  Lord,  and  sets  up  a  new 
abomination  of  desolation  in  the  peculiar  city  of  the  Most 
High,  by  planting  the  curtains  of  his  pavilions  between 
the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain*.  When  the 
shepherd  is  smitten,  such  of  his  flock,  as  escape  the 
avenging  sword  of  him  that  rideth  on  the  white  horse  f, 
shall  be  scattered  far  and  wide  ;  and,  agreeably  to  the 
parallel  prophecy  of  Isaiah  |,  shall  carry  into  all  nations 
the  tidings  of  their  overthrow,  and  of  the  marvellous 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  God.  Great  however  w^ll 
first  be  the  slaughter  of  them ;  for  the  Lord  will  turn  his 
hands,  not  only  against  the  leader,  but  likewise  against 
the  mean  ones,  even  all  his  inferior  followers.  Of  the 
whole  Antichristian  army  two  thirds  shall  perish,  and  one 
third  only  shall  be  preserved.  This  third  part  shall  be 
brought  through  the  fire  of  affliction  to  sincere  faith  and 
repentance  ;  and  every  one,  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations 
which  came  against  Jerusalem,  shall  go  up  from  year  to 
year  to  worship  the  king,  the  Lord  of  hosts.  But  first, 
as  I  have  just  observed,  and  as  we  are  taught  both  by 
Isaiah  and  Zechariah,  they  will  be  scattered  through  all 
countries ;  and,  carrying  wherever  they  go  the  wonder- 
ful tidings  of  their  own  defeat  and  of  the  restoration  cf 
Judah^  they  will  be  made  instrumental  in  bringing  about 
also  the  resto?'ation  of  Israel. 

In  the  I4th  chapter,  which  contains  a  prediction  of  the 
sacking  of  Jerusalem,  and  a  more  particular  account  c-f 
the  manner  in  which  the  confederacy  of  Antichrist  will 
be  overthrown  §  ;  it  is  said,  that,  in  the  great  day  of  the 

ly  be  drawn  against  him  ;  and  he  will  come  to  his  end,  none  being  able  to 
help  him.  His  vast  armament  >vill  be  overthrown  with  dreadful  slaughter  ; 
and  such  as  escape  will  be  scattered  over  the  whole  world,  and  in  the  severe 
school  of  adversity  will  at  length  be  broug'ht  to  a  hearty  penitence  for  tJieir 
past  offences. 

*  "  A  new  section  commences  here  (Chap.  xiii.  7.),  but  not,  T  think,  a  new 
subject  of  prophecy.  For,  as  far  as  we  can  judge  of  a  prophecy  l)efore  its 
accomplishment,  it  appears  to  be  a  continuatioa  of  the  same  subject,  which 
was  entered  upon  at  the  beginning  of  Chap,  xii ;  namely,  the  alarming  inva- 
sion of  yudah,  and  siege  of  ijferusalem,  by  a  numerous  body  of  nations."  Dr. 
Bluviiey  in  loc. 

t"  Rev.  xix.  11,15.  +  Isaiah  Ixvi.  19,  20. 

^  •' This  chapter  goes  on  to  foretell  a  siege,  in  which  Jerusalem  will  be 
taken  and  sacked,  and  half  of  its  inhabitants  carried  into  captivity,  whilst  the 
rest  will  be  enabled  to  stand  their  ground-     la  this  rritical  siiiiaiion  ihev 


368 

Lord,  there  sliall  not  be  light,  but  cold  and  a  thick  fog ; 
that  it  shall  be,  as  it  were,  neither  perfect  day  nor  perfect 
night;  but  that  in  the  evening  it  shall  be  light.  It  seems 
most  natural  to  understand  these  expressions  allegori- 
cally.  The  meaning  of  them  may  perhaps  be,  that,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  period  styled  the  great  day  of  the 
Lord,  the  high  counsels  of  God  shall  not  be  clearly 
understood.  The  temporary  success  of  Antichrist,  par- 
ticularly his  taking  Jerusalem  even  after  the  conversion 
and  penitence  of  its  inhabitants,  vi'ill  throw  over  them  a 
veil  of  darkness  and  obscurity.  Even  the  pious  may 
begin  to  doubt,  whether  the  time  for  the  restoration  of 
God's  ancient  people  be  yet  arrived.  But,  when  the 
I^ord  goeth  forth  to  fight  against  his  enemies,  when  his 
feet  stand  upon  the  mount  of  Olives,  when  the  hitherto 
victorious  legions  of  Antichrist  are  suddenly  cut  off  in 
the  midst  of  their  strength  ;  then  will  all  darkness  be 
removed,  then  will  the  purposes  of  heaven  be  clearly 
understood,  then  will  the  interposition  of  the  Almighty 
be  acknowledged.  Obscure  as  the  greatest  part  of  that 
wonderful  day  may  be,  at  evening-time  it  shall  be  light. 

When  the  enemies  of  God  and  his  people  are  subdu- 
ed, living  "waters  shall  go  forth  from  Jerusalem-  The 
children  of  Israel  shall  be  sown  through  all  nations,  and 
shall  be  greatly  instrumental  in  spreading  universally  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  Every  one  then  shall  have 
an  opportunity  afibrded  him  of  drinking  of  the  waters 
of  life. 

The  prophecy  concludes  with  foretelling  the  holiness 
and  happiness  of  the  Millennium,  when  the  Lord  shall  be 
king  over  all  the  earth.     It  intermingles  however  with 

will  be  relieved  by  the  arm  of  divine  power,  exerting  itself  wonderfully  in 
their  beliaH",  and  attended  with  the  most  beneficial  consequences ;  such  as 
living-  waters  going  forth  out  of  Jerusalem  ;  the  name  and  majesty  of  the 
true  God  acknowledged  through  the  whole  earth ;  and  the  entire  re-establlsh- 
ment  of  Jerusalem  in  security.  In  the  mean  time,  the  hostile  invaders,  debi- 
litated by  sickness,  thrown  into  confusion,  and  falling  foul  upon  each  other, 
will  yield  themselves  and  their  wealth  an  easy  conquest  to  the  assailing  ^ews. 
After  this  a  conformity  in  religious  worship  will  be  required  of  all  the  nations 
under  a  severe  penalty ;  and  all  things  in  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  from  the  least 
to  the  greatest,  shall  thenceforward  be  accounted  holy.  Such  are  the  great 
outlines  of  this  extraordinary  prophecy  ;  to  fill  up  which  with  any  tolerable 
certainty,  it  will  be  necessary  perhaps  to  wait  the  times  of  its  accomplish- 
ment."    Dr.  Blavnev  in  loc. 


369- 

these  promises  of  general  felicity  an  oblique  intimation, 
that  some  will,  notwithstanding  such  visible  tokens  of 
divine  interposition,  fall  away  from  the  faith  even  of  the 
Millennian  Church.  A  plague  is  denounced  against  such 
families  of  the  earth  as  shall  refuse  to  come  up  to  Jeru- 
salem to  worship  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts :  whence 
it  is  natural  to  infer,  that  some  families  xvilt  withhold  the 
adoration  which  is  due  from  them.  Accordingly  we  are 
told  veiy  particularly  by  Ezekiel  and  St.  John,  in  their 
prophecies  concerning  those  last  rebels  against  God 
whom  they  agree  in  calling  Gog  and  Magogs  that  this 
will  certainly  be  the  case.  But  the  last  confederacy  will 
be  overthrown  like  the  former  confederacy ;  and  the 
Church  will  at  length  be  translated  from  earth  to  heaven. 


PROPHECY    XLI. 

The  restoration  of  the  Jews  at  the  close  of  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles. 

Luke  xxi.  20.  When  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem  compass- 
ed with  armies,  then  know,  that  the  desolation  thereof  is 
nigh.  21.  Then  let  them  which  are  in  Judea  flee  to  the 
mountains ;  and  let  them  which  are  in  the  midst  of  it 
depart  out ;  and  let  not  them  that  are  in  the  countries 
enter  thereinto.  22.  For  these  be  the  days  of  vengeance, 
that  all  things  which  are  written  may  be  fulfilled.  23.  But 
woe  unto  them  that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give 
suck  in  those  days !  for  there  shall  be  great  distress  in 
the  land,  and  wrath  upon  this  people.  24.  And  they  shall 
fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  shall  be  led  away  cap- 
tive into  all  nations :  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be 
fulfilled. 

COMMENTARY. 

In  these  words  of  our  Lord,  we  have  an  oblique  though 
a  decisive  prediction  that  the  Jeivs  shall  be  restored. 
Having  foretold,  that  Jerusalem  shall  be  besieged  and 
47 


370 

taken  by  the  Romans,  and  that  the  Jews  shall  be  led 
away  captive  mto  all  nations,  Christ  adds,  that  Jerusa- 
lem shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times 
of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled.  Hence  we  must  necessarily 
infer,  that,  so  soon  as  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  are  ful- 
filled, Jerusalem  shall  cease  to  be  trodden  down  by  them, 
and  the,  scattered  Jews  shall  be  restored  to  their  own  land. 

What  is  meant  by  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  is  suf- 
ficiently plain  from  the  circumstance  of  the  expiration  of 
those  times  being  CDupled  in  point  of  chronology  with 
the  return  ofJudah.  When  Judah  begins  to  be  restored, 
the  1260  years  will  be  finished,  and  the  judgments  of 
God  will  go  forth  against  the  Roman  empire  under  its 
last  head.  Hence  it  follows,  as  Bp.  Newton  observes, 
that  "  the  titnes  of  the  Gentiles  will  be  fulfilled,  when  the 
times  of  the  four  great  kingdoms  of  the  Gentiles  accord- 
ing to  Daniel's  prophecies  shall  be  expired,  iuid  the  fifth 
kingdom  or  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall  be  set  up  in 
their  place,  and  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  shall  take 
the  kingdom,  and  possess  the  khigdom  for  ever,  even 
for  ever  and  ever  *." 

Wliether  the  remarkable  hieroglyphical  passage  f , 
which  succeeds  this  prophecy,  may  be  applied  to  the 
times  of  the  second  advent^  or  whether  it  must  be  con- 
Jined  to  the  figurative  coming  of  our  Lord  in  judgment 
against  Jerusalem  when  it  was  sacked  by  the  RomanSy 
depends  entirely,  as  it  appears  to  me,  upon  the  meaning 
of  the  word  generation  in  the  32d  verse.  "  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  this  generation  shall  not  pass  away,  till  all  be 
fulfilled^."  \i generatio7i  here  denote  a  generatioji  of 
contemporary  men,  it  seems  unwarrantable  to  extend  the 
prediction,  relative  to  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man,  to 
the  second  advent;  when  Christ  so  expressly  tells  us, 
that  both  it,  and  his  preceding  literal  prediction  of  the 
sacking  of  Jerusalem,  will  be  accomplished  ere  the  then 
existing  generation  shall  have  passed  away.  But,  if  with 
Mr.  Mede  we  suppose  it  to  denote  a  nation  or  people,'  as 
the  word  y^'f*  undoubtedly  may  do,  and  if  by  this  ?iation 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XX.  f  Luke  xxi.  25—28. 

^  The  same  declaration  occurs,  and  in  the  same  part  of  the  prediction,  in 
the  parallel  prophecies  rccorh-d  by  St.  Mathew  and  St.  Mark,  though  neither 
of  those  evangelists  meuuon  tae  impUed  promise  oft/ie  restoration  of  yudal:. 


371 

we  understand  widi  him  the  nation  of  the  Jews  ;  wc  arc 
then  at  hberty  to  extend  the  prophecy  to  the  times  of 
the  second  advent.  In  that  case,  our  Lord's  declaration, 
when  paraphrased,  would  amount  to  this  :  "I  solemnly 
assure  you,  that,  notwithstanding  this  people  shall  be  led 
away  captive  into  all  nations,  and  their  capital  city  trod- 
den  under  foot  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be 
accomplished;  yet  they  shall  in  no  wase  pass  away;  they 
shall  in  no  wise  lose  their  separate  existence  ;  but  shall 
be  wonderfully  preserved  in  the  land  of  their  dispersion 
a  distinct  and  unmixing  nation,  till  all  be  fulfilled,  till  a 
series  of  tremendous  political  revolutions  has  ushered  in 
my  second  advent^  till  I  appear  in  the  clouds  of  heaven 
pouring  down  vengeance  upon  Antichiist  and  his  confe- 
derated multitudes.''''  I  believe  it  to  be  almost  an  axiom 
in  prophetic  interpretation,  that  there  is  scarcely  a  pre- 
diction relative  to  the  first  advent  which  does  not  look 
forward  ultimately  to  the  second  advent ;  and  certainly 
no  prediction  seems  more  worthy  of  such  an  extension 
than  that  of  our  Lord  himself,  provided  only  we  be  war- 
ranted in  thus  extending  it  by  his  assertion  that  "  this 
generation  shall  not  pass  away  till  all  be  fulfilled."  That 
the  prediction  primarily  relates  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem^ 
no  one  I  apprehend  will  be  disposed  to  deny ;  and  I  think 
we  may  venture  to  add,  that  our  Lord  himself  else^vhere 
seems  peculiarly  to  direct  our  attention  to  this  event. 
He  declares,  that  the  disciples  "  shall  not  have  gone  over 
the  cities  of  Israel,  till  the  Son  of  man  be  come*';"  and, 
in  another  place,  yet  more  explicitly,  that  some  of  those 
very  disciples  "  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the 
Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom  -j."  Assertions  like 
these,  plainly  delivered  in  allusion  to  his  subsequent  pro- 
phecy, lead  one  to  doubt  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Mede's 
exposition  of  the  word  generation^  and  incline  one  rather 
to  think  that  its  most  obvious  meaning  is  that  intended  by 
our  Lord.  If  then  it  do  mean  simply  a  generatioji  of  co- 
existing rnoi,  we  are  scarcely  warranted  in  extending  the 
prediction  to  the  times  of  the  second  advent.  It  is  in  this 
sense  that  Bp.  Newton  takes  the  word,  and  thence  ver} 

*  Matt.  X.  23. 

]•  Matt.  xvi.  25.    See  also  Mark  ix,  1 .  nncl  Luke  W.  '27 


372 

jiaturally  ai*gues  as  I  have  done.  "  It  is  to  me  a  wonder," 
says  he,  "  how  any  man  can  refer  part  of  the  foregoing 
discourse  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  part  to  the 
end  of  the  world  or  any  other  distant  events  when  it  is 
said  so  positively  here  in  the  conclusion.  All  things  shall 
be  fulfilled  in  this  generation.  It  seemeth  as  if  our  Sa- 
viour  had  been  aware  of  some  such  misapplication  of  his 
words,  by  adding  yet  greater  force  and  emphasis  to  his 
affirmation.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  axvay^  but  my 
word  shall  not  pass  away — In  another  place  he  says, 
There  are  some  standing  here,  who  shall  not  taste  of 
death,  till  they  see  the  Soji  of  man  co??ii?ig  in  his  kingdom: 
intimating,  that  it  would  not  succeed  immediately,  and 
yet  not  at  such  a  distance  of  time,  but  that  some  then 
living  should  be  spectators  of  the  calamities  coming  upon 
the  nation."  Yet  does  his  Lordship  afterwards,  not  very 
consistently  with  his  prior  remarks,  suppose  the  prophecy 
ultimately  to  relate  to  the  end  of  the  world  and  the  day  of 
judgment.  He  observes,  what  no  doubt  is  perfectly  true, 
that  "  it  is  usual  Avith  the  prophets  to  frame  and  express 
their  prophecies  so,  as  that  they  shall  comprehend  more 
than  one  event,  and  have  their  several  periods  of  comple- 
tion." But,  if  our  Lord  expressly  limit  this  prediction 
to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  as  he  certainly  does,  if  with  the 
Bishop  we  suppose  generation  to  mean  a  gefieration  of 
co-existent  men,  what  right  have  we,  conti'ary  to  his  own 
declaration,  to  extend  it  to  the  end  of  the  xvorld^  ? 

But,  in  whatever  sense  we  are  to  understand  that  part 
of  the  prophecy,  which  speaks  of  signs  in  the  sun  and  ift 
the  inoo7i  and  iii  the  stars,  of  disti'ess  of  nations,  of  the 
roariiig  of  the  sea  and  the  waves,  of  the  shaking  of  the 
powers  of  heaven,  and  of  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the 
clouds  ;  whether  we  are  to  understand  it  limitedly  as  re- 
ferring solely  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  wars 
which  preceded  it,  or  extendedly  as  refeiTing  likewise  to 
the  awful  political  revolutions  of  the  last  ti7nes  which 
according  to  the  general  voice  of  prophecy  will  usher  in 
the  second  advent:  in  whatever  sense,  I  say,  we  are  to 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XXI.    Tlie  reader  will  find  the  whole  of 
;Mr.  Mede's  scheme  of  interpretation  in  his  Works,  Book  iv.  Epist.  xii.  p 
752t  753. 


373 

understand  it,  there  is  no  ambiguity,  or  difficulty  in  our 
Lord's  explicit  declaration,  that  the  Jews  shall  be  scat- 
tered through  all  nations,  and  that  Jerusalem  shall  be 
trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gen- 
tiles shall  be  fulfilled.  Since  this  prediction  was  delivered, 
the  Jews  have  been  led  away  captive  by  the  Romans, 
and  to  this  present  hour  continue  dispersed  over  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth.  Jerusalem  has  never  ceased  to  be 
trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles  ;  being  successively  occu- 
pied by  the  Romans,  the  Persians,  the  Saracens,  the 
Turks  of  the  Selzuccian  race,  the  Egyptian  caliphs,  the 
Latin  Christians,  the  Egyptian  caliphs  a  second  time,  the 
Mamalucs,  and  the  Turks  of  the  Ottoman  race.  These 
last  are  its  present  masters ;  and  ere  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  are  fulfilled,  it  is  destined  likewise  to  be  trodden 
down  by  Antichrist.  But,  when  those  times  are  fulfilled, 
then  it  will  cease  to  be  trodden  down  ;  and,  after  all  the 
political  changes  which  it  has  witnessed,  will  once  more 
revert  to  its  ancient  possessors,  the  children  of  Judah. 
Thus  are  the  Jews  themselves,  through  the  whole  period 
both  of  their  dispersion  and  restoration,  a  standing  evi- 
dence of  the  divine  mission  of  him,  whom  thev  refuse  to 
acknowledge  as  the  promised  Messiah. 


PROPHECY  XLII. 

The  restoring  of  the  kingdom  to  Israel. 

Acts  i.  6.  When  they  therefore  were  come  together, 
they  asked  of  him,  saying,  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time 
restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?  And  he  said  unto 
them,  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons, 
which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power. 

COMMENTARY. 

This  is  another  oblique  prediction  of  the  restoration  of 
Israel,     Our  Lord  does  not  answer  the  question  of  his 
disciples,  by  telling  them  that  they  were  completely  mis- 
taken in  their  belief  that  the  kingdom  wotdd  be  restored 


374 

to  Israel^  but  only  by  informing  them  that  it  was  not  ibr 
them  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons;  thus  tacitly  allow- 
ing that  such  a  restoration  would,  sooner  or  later,  assur- 
edly take  place  *. 

IVe  are  at  present  in  just  the  same  state  of  uncertainty 
that  they  were,  respecting  the  precise  era  of  this  great 
event.  For,  although  we  know  in  general,  as  they  like- 
wise might  have  known,  that  Judah  will  begin  to  be  re- 
stored at  the  efid  of  the  1260  years  ;  yet,  in  pai'ticular, 
we  cannot  be  positive  respecting  the  true  date  of  those 
1260  years ;  we  can  merely  pitch  upon  such  a  one  as 
appears  to  us  most  probable  ;  the  event  alone  can  bring 
certainty  to  men,  lor  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own 
power  the  times  and  the  seasons.  To  myself  the  year 
606  appears  the  proper  date  :  but,  after  all,  it  is  verj- 
possible  that  I  may  be  quite  mistaken,  as  Mr.  Mede  and 
other  of  my  predecessors  have  been  before  me. 


PROPHECY    XLIIL 

The  present  rejection  and  final  conversion  of  the  Jews,  when  the 
fuhiess  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  come. 

Romans  xi.  1.  I  sa}^  then.  Hath  God  cast  away  his 
people  ?  God  forbid.  For  I  also  am  an  Israelite  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  2,  God 
hath  not  cast  away  his  people  which  he  foreknew — 11.  I 
say  then,  Have  they  stumbled  that  they  should  fall?  God 
forbid :  but  rather  through  their  fall  salvation  is  come 
unto  the  Gentiles,  for  to  provoke  them  to  jealousy. 
12.  Now,  if  the  fall  of  them  be  the  riches  of  the  world, 

*  They  seem  to  liave  expected,  that,  wlicn  the  Spirit  was  in  "so  extraor- 
dinary a  manner  poured  out,  and  the  world  according'  to  Christ's  prediction 
(John  xvi.  8.)  convinced  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment,  the  whole 
nation  of  tAe  yevis  would  own  him  for  the  Messiah,  and  so  not  only  shake  off 
its  subjection  to  the  Romans,  but  itself  rise  to  very  extensive  and  perhaps 
universal  dominion.  The  word  «5rox«0<s-oiV£(5  intimates  the  shattered  arid 
weakened  state,  in  which  Israel  jwiv  ivas.  And  I  cannot  but  think  our  Lord's 
answer  may  intimate,  it  should  at  length  be  restored,  though  not  immedi- 
ately, or  with  all  the  circumstances  they  imagined  ;  which  concession  seems 
the  most  satisfactory  answer  to  Rabbi  Isaac's  objection  against  Christianity, 
from  his  mistaken  sense  of  these  words."  Dr.  Doddridge's  Comment,  in  loc 


375 

and  the  diminishing  of  them  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles  ; 
how  much  more  their  fuhiess?  13.  For  I  speak  to  you, 
Gentiles  ;  inasmuch  as  I  am  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
I  magnify  mine  office :  14.  If  by  any  means  I  may  pro- 
voke to  emulation  them  which  are  my  flock,  and  might 
save  some  of  them.  15.  For,  if  the  casting  away  of  them 
be  the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving 
of  them  be,  but  life  from  the  dead?  16.  For,  if  the  first- 
fruit  be  holy,  the  lump  is  also  holy  :  and,  if  the  root  be 
holy,  so  are  the  branches.  17.  And,  if  some  of  the 
branches  be  broken  oft',  and  thou  being  a  wild  olive-tree 
wert  graffed  in  among  them,  and  with  them  partakest  of 
the  root  and  fatness  of  the  olive-tree ;  18.  Boast  not 
against  the  branches.  But,  if  thou  boast,  thou  bearest  not 
the  root,  but  the  root  thee.  19.  Thou  wilt  say  then,  The 
branches  were  broken  off",  that  I  might  be  graflfed  in. 
20.  Well ;  because  of  unbelief  they  were  broken  oflT, 
and  thou  standest  by  faith.  Be  not  high-minded,  but 
fear.  21.  For,  if  God  spared  not  the  natural  branches, 
take  heed  lest  he  also  spare  not  thee.  22.  Behold  there- 
fore the  goodness  and  severity  of  God  :  on  them  which 
fell,  severity ;  but  toward  thee,  goodness ;  otherwise 
thou  also  shalt  be  cut  off.  23.  And  they  also,  if  they 
abide  not  in  unbelief,  shall  be  graffed  in :  for  God  is 
able  to  graff  them  in  again.  24.  For,  if  thou  wert  cut 
out  of  the  olive-tree  which  is  wild  by  nature,  and  wert 
graffed  contrary  to  nature  into  a  good  olive-tree ;  how 
much  more  shall  these,  which  be  the  natural  branches, 
be  graffed  into  their  own  olive-tree. 

25.  For  I  would  not,  brethren,  that  ye  should  be  igno- 
rant of  this  mystery,  lest  ye  should  be  wise  in  your  own 
conceits ;  That  blindness  in  part  has  happened  to  Israel, 
until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in.  25.  And 
so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved  :  as  it  is  written.  There  shall 
come  out  of  Zion  the  deliverer,  and  shall  turn  a^ray  un- 
godliness from  Jacob.  27.  For  this  is  my  covenant  unto 
them,  when  I  shall  take  away  their  sins.  28.  As  con- 
cerning the  Gospel,  they  are  enemies  for  your  sakes  : 
but,  as  touching  the  election,  they  are  beloved  for  the 
fathers'  sakes.  29.  For  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are 
without  repentance.  30.  For.  as  ye  in  times  pa,st  have 


376 

not  believed  God,  yet  have  notv  obtained  mercy  through 
their  unbeUef ;  31.  even  so  have  these  also  now  not  be- 
lieved, that  through  your  mercy  they  also  may  obtain 
mercy.  32.  For  God  hath  concluded  them  all  in  unbe- 
lief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all. 

33.  O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  God !  How  unsearchable  are  his  judg- 
ments, and  his  ways  past  finding  out ! 

COjNIMENTARY, 

The  whole  mystery  of  the  call  of  the  Gentiles,  the  re- 
jection  of  the  unbelieving  and  Jervs,  and  the  final  conver- 
sion of  their  posterity  in  the  last  ages,  is  here  very  fully 
and  explicitly  set  forth.  The  Jews  were  rejected  of  God, 
because  they  rejected  and  crucified  the  Messiah.  But, 
when  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  come  in,  or,  as 
our  Lord  expresses  it,  when  the  times  of  the  Gentiles 
shall  be  fulfilled :  that  is  to  say,  when  the  times  of  the 
four  great  monarchies  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  expired, 
and  when  the  three  times  ajid  a  half  shall  have  come 
to  their  close  :  then  shall  the  natural  branches,  now  no 
longer  abiding  in  unbelief,  be  graifed  into  the  good  olive- 
tree  of  the  Church. 

The  e\'ents  of  the  day  shew,  that  the  coming  in  of  the 
fulness  of  the  Gentiles  cannot  be  very  remote ;  for  the 
last  times  of  atheism  and  infidelity,  so  minutely  described 
and  predicted  by  the  apostolical  prophets  *,  have  indis- 
putably commenced:  but  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  are  not 
yet  altogether  fulfilled,  their  fulness  is  not  yet  perfectly 
come  in;  because  we  still  behold  Jerusalem  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles.  Nevertheless,  when  the  appointed 
th7'ee  tijnes  and  a  half  shall  have  expired,  the  Lord  will 
assuredly  begin  a  wonderful  work  in  the  earth.  He  will 
go  forth  in  his  wrath,  and  cut  off  those  ingraffed  branch- 
es that  have  not  continued  in  his  goodness  :  and  at  length, 
after  the  destruction  of  Antichrist  is  completed,  all  Israel, 
in  both  his  great  divisions,  shall  be  converted  and  saved. 
Glorious  will  be  the  inauguration  of  the  Millennian 
Church  !  If  the  fall  of  the  Jexvs  have  been  hitherto  the 

*  See  my  Dissert,  on  the  1260  years.    CUap.  3. 


377 

riches  of  the  world ;  and  the  diminishing  of  them,  the 
riches  of  the  Gentiles :  how  much  more  their  fulness! 
In  the  hand  of  God,  they  shall  be  a  most  powerful 
instrument  of  spreading  the  Gospel  through  all  nations. 
The  harvest  of  the  first  advent  shall  not  be  comparable 
to  the  harvest  of  the  second  advent.  For  the  name  of 
Christ  shall  be  known  from  the  east  to  the  west ;  and  his 
praises  shall  be  heard  in  the  utmost  parts  of  the  earth. 
Israel  shall  be  made  the  seed  of  the  Church  ;  and  thus, 
from  first  to  last,  will  prove  the  true  Jezrael  of  God*. 

I  think  it  right  to  observe,  that  Mr.  Mede,  Dr.  Whit- 
by, and  Dr.  Doddridge,  have  given  an  interpretation  of 
thevoming  in  of  the  fulness  of  the  Ge?itiles,  different  from 
that  which  I  have  done.  By  this  phrase  they  understand 
the  great  co7wersion  of  the  Gentdes  to  Christianity  at  the 
time  of  the  second  advent:  but,  in  adopting  such  an  inter- 
pretation, they  do  not  seem  to  have  sufficiently  consider- 
ed the  order  of  events.  We  leam  from  St.  Paul,  that 
what  he  terms  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  is  to  come  in 
previous  t  to  the  general  conversion  and  restoration  of 
Israel:  whereas  the  second  great  harvest  of  the  Church j 
or  the  universal  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  faith, 
is  to  be  posterior  to  it,  and  in  a  great  measure  the  conse- 
quence of  it.  Antichrist  is  first  to  be  overthrown,  and  the 
whole  house  of  Israel  to  be  brought  back  both  to  their 
own  land  and  the  fold  of  tlie  Church  :  then,  and  not  till 
then,  the  general  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  is  to  take 
place.  In  short,  ho^v  can  the  Jews  be  made  instruments 
of  converting  others,  how  can  they  become  the  seed  of 
the  Millennian  Church,  unless  they  themselves  be  first 
converted  ?  But  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  comes  in 
before  the  conversion  of  the  house  of  Israel :  therefore  it 
cannot  denote  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  which  will 
not  be  accomplished  till  afterwards,  and  that  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  the  now  converted  Israelites,  as  we  are 
repeatedly  taught  in  various  prophecies.  It  is  somewhat 
remarkable,  that  Dr.  Doddridge  does  not  seem  to  be 

*Hoseai.  11.  ii.  22,  23. 

■j-  "  Blindness  in  part  hath  happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles  be  come  in."  Whence  it  is  plain,  that  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  must 
first  come  in  ;  and  afterguards  the  blindness  of  Israel  be  removed. 

48 


378 

aware  how  much  he  contradicts  himself,  when,  in  ano- 
ther note  on  this  same  prediction  of  St.  Paul,  he  very 
justly  remarks,  that,  when  the  restoration  and  conversion 
of  the  Jews  "  shall  be  accomplished,  it  will  be  so  unpa- 
ralleled, as  necessarily  to  excite  a  general  attention,  and 
to  fix  upon  men's  minds  such  an  almost  irresistible  de- 
monstration both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  revela- 
tion, as  will  probably  captivate  the  minds  of  many  thou  - 
sands  of  deists  in  countries  professedly  Christian  :  nor 
will  this  only  captivate  their  understanding,  but  will  have 
the  greatest  tendency  to  awaken  a  sense  of  true  religion 
in  their  hearts  :  and  this  will  be  a  means  of  propagating 
the  Gospel  with  an  amazing  velocity  in  Pagan  and  Mo- 
hammedan countries."  How  can  all  this  be  the  conse- 
quence of  the  restoration  of  Israel^  if  the  general  conver- 
sion of  the  Gentiles  (supposing  such  to  be  the  import  of 
St.  Paul's  expression  the  coming  i?i  of  the  fuhiess  of  the 
Gentiles)  take  place  before  Israel  is  restored  ?  Mr.  Mede 
is  liable  to  the  very  same  charge  of  self-contradiction  *, 
and,  what  is  yet  more,  of  absolute  inconsistency.  For, 
while  in  one  part  of  his  works  he  explains  the  phrase  to 
mean  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  he  elsewhere  suppo- 
ses it  to  be  parallel  to  that  of  our  Lord  the  fulfilling  of  the 
times  of  the  Gentiles,  which  he  rightly  conceives  to  de- 
note the  end  of  the  last  great  monarchy  at  the  termination 
of  the  three  times  and  a  half\,  Bp.  Newton  is  guilty  of 
much  the  same  inconsistency.     He  teaches  us,  that  the 

*  Compare  his  works,  p.  197,  891,  892. 

\  "Because  f  Ac  Jeivs  are  not  yet  called,  it  followeth  that  the  fulness  of  the 
Gentiles  is  yet  to  come  :  and  whr.t  then  should  \.\\\s  fulness  be,  but  the  fulness 
<f  the  GospeVs  extent  ooer  all  the  nations  of  the  Tjorld?--- 

"  Some  think,  that  St.  Paul  in  this  place  hath  reference  unto  that  speech 
of  Christ  (Luke  xxi.  24.),  where  he  foretells,  that  the  yews  should  fall  by  the 
edge  of  the  s'vcord,  and  be  led  captive  into  all  nations,  and.  Jerusalem  should  be 
trodden  down  nf'the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  cfthe  Gentiles  should  he  fulfilled  ov 
accomplished.  But  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  and  the  ful- 
filling  or  accomplishment  of  their  times  should  not  be  the  same,  howsoever 
they  may  be  coincident."     Mede's  Works,  Disc,  xxxvi.  p.  197. 

Here  Mr.  Mede  denies  the  parallelism  of  the  two  phrases. 

*'  The  yews  shall  be  carried  away  captive  over  all  nations,  and  yerusale'iii  shaU 
he  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled :  that  is, 
tmtil  the  monarchies  of  the  Gentiles  should  be  finished.  For  these  times  of 
the  Gentiles  are  that  last  period  of  the  fourth  kingdom  prophesied  of;  a  time, 
times,  and  half  a  time ;  at  the  end  whereof  the  ang^el  swears  unto  Daniel 
(Chap.  xii.  7.),  that  God  should  accomplish  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people. 
This  is  ih^Xfulness  of  the  Qentiles,  which  being  come,  St,  Paul  tell3  U3,  the 


379 

Jidfiilhig  of  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  means  the  expiration 
of  the  times  of  the  four  great  kingdoms  of  the  Gentiles 
when  the  last  of  them  shall  be  overthrown,  and  that  the 
cojning  in  of  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  signifies  their 
general  cojwersion;  and  yet  he  represents,  like  myself, 
the  two  phrases  as  being  parallel  to  each  other  * . 

The  common  application  of  St.  Paul's  expression  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  seems  principally  to  have  arisen 
from  the  word  ito-tx6n,  shall  come  ifi ;  as  if  it  related  to  the 
Gentiles  coming  into  the  Church.  But  it  by  no  means 
necessarily  bears  any  such  sense.  It  may  with  equal 
propriety  be  translated  shall  take  place  or  shall  happen  f. 
In  this  case  therefore  the  whole  phrase  would  be,  Until 
the  fulness  (namely  of  the  times)  of  the  Gentiles  shall  take 
place  or  arrive.  nxripufA^x  is  the  parallel  substantive  to  the 
verb  used  by  our  Lord  in  St.  Luke  J.  Accordingly,  it 
is  elsewhere  employed  by  the  inspired  writers  to  denote 
fulness  of  time  ^. 


PROPHECY  XLIV. 

The  visible  manifestation  of  Christ  to  confound  Antichrist. 

Rev.  i.  7.  Behold  he  cometh  with  clouds  ;  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him :  and  they  which  pierced  him  :  and  all 
kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of  him.  Even 
so,  Amen. 

Deliverer  shall  cotne  out  of  Zion,  and  all  Israel  shall  be  saved.  Rom.  si.  26." 
Works  B.  iii.     Treatise  on  Daniel's  Weeks,  p.  709. 

Here,  if  I  mistake  not,  he  asserts  their  parallelism. 

*  "  The  times  of  the  Gentiles  will  be  fulfilled,  when  the  times  of  the  four 
great  kingdoms  of  the  Gentiles  according  to  Daniel's  prophecies  shall  be 
expired,  and  the  fifth  kingdom  or  the  kingdom  of  Clirist  shall  be  setup  in  their 
place.— Jerusalem,  as  it  hath  hitherto  remained,  so  probably  will  remain,  in 
subjection  to  the  Gentiles,  until  these  ti')nes  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled  ;  or,  a.s 
St.  Paul  expresseth  it,  until  the  Julness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in,  and  so  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved,  and  become  again  the  people  of  God.  The  fulness  of  the 
.T^eiu* -will  come  in,  a[s  well  as  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles'*  Dissert,  xx,  at  the 
end. 

f  As  in  Luke  ix.  46,  i  Lute  xxi.  24. 

fl  See  Ephes.  i.  10.    GaUiv.4'. 


380 


COMMENTARY. 


These  words  contain  an  evident  allusion  to  a  prophecy 
of  Zechariah  relative  to  the  restoration  and  conversion  of 
the  Jews  *.  Like  that  prediction,  they  certainly  give  us 
jreason  to  believe,  that  there  will  be  a  visible  manifestation 
of  the  Lord,  at  the  period  when  Antichrist  is  overthown, 
and  the  Jexvs  are  resettled  in  their  own  land.  This  awful 
manifestation  St.  John  afterwards  describes  at  large  f. 
Here  he  briefly  tells  us,  that  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth, 
meaning  I  suppose  the  great  confederacy  of  the  Latin 
earth  or  Roman  e?npire,  shall  wail  because  of  the  Mes- 
siah ;  that  every  eye  shall  see  him ;  and  that  they  also 
which  pierced  him,  the  lately  unbelievifig  but  7ioxv  peni- 
tent Je7vs,  shall  look  upon  him.  Amen.  Even  so  come. 
Lord  Jesus  %  ! 

CONCLUSION. 

Such  are  the  various  prophecies  which  treat  of  the 
restoration  of  Israel  and  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist,  and 
such  are  the  conclusions  which  I  have  thought  myself 
warranted  in  deducing  from  them.  It  is  obvious,  that 
in  expounding  Scripture  we  must  not  make  some  parts 
of  if  contradict  others.  This  is  the  principle,  on  which 
I  have  proceeded  in  the  present  work ;  and  it  is  the  only 
principle  by  which  a  consistent  interpretation  can  be  pro- 
duced. Some  prophecies  teach  us,  that  the  children  of 
Israel  will  be  restored  in  a  converted  state  ;  others,  that 
they  will  be  restored  in  an  unconverted  state :  some,  that 
they  will  be  restored  contemporaneously  with  the  last 
expedition  of  Antichrist ;  others,  that  they  will  be  restor- 
ed after  his  overthrow  and  in  consequence  of  the  tidings 
of  it  which  will  be  carried  among  all  nations  by  such  as 
escape  from  that  great  catastrophe  :  some,  that  they  will 
be  restored  by  the  instrumentality  of  a  maritime  nation 
of  faithful  worshippers ;  others,  that  they  will  be  restored 
by  the  instrumentality  of  a  tyrannical  power  which  ojffi- 
tiously  intermeddles  in  the  concerns  of  its  weaker  neigh- 

*  Zecliar.  xii.  10.  f  Rev.  xiv.  17—20.     six.  11—21. 

4  Rev.  xxii.  20, 


381 

bours^  and  of  which  Ashur  or  Babylon  was  a  type :  in 
short,  some,  that  they  will  be  restored  in  a  time  of  unex- 
ampled trouble,  and  that  they  will  suffer  very  severely 
as  their  forefathers  did  during  their  exodus  from  Egypt ; 
others,  that  they  will  be  restored  in  much  joy  and  tran- 
quillity, and  will  be  brought  back  with  great  honour  by 
the  nations  among  which  they  are  dispersed.  These  dif- 
ferent matters  appear  at  first  sight  contradictory :  and  yet, 
since  they  are  all  foretold  by  the  same  spirit  of  God,  they 
all  rest  upon  the  same  divine  authority.  We  must  there- 
fore believe  that  they  will  all  come  to  pass.  Hence  a 
commentator  cannot  be  uselessly  employed,  who  en- 
deavours to  remove  their  apparent  contradictoriness,  and 
to  exhibit  them  as  perfectly  harmonizing  with  each  other. 

If  we  adopt  the  scheme,  which  I  have  attempted  to 
establish  in  the  preceding  pages,  this  contradictoriness 
undoubtedly  will  be  removed;  and,  whether  I  be  right 
in  every  particular  or  not,  it  will  at  least  have  been  shewn, 
that  each  prediction  is  capable  of  receiving  its  full  accom- 
plishment without  jarring  with  other  seemingly  opposite 
predictions.  Thus,  in  interpreting  these  various  prophe- 
cies, there  is  no  inconsistency  in  supposing,  that  Judah 
will  be  restored  contemporaneously  with  the  Antichris- 
tian  expedition^  and  that  Joseph  and  his  brethren  of  the 
ten  tribes  will  be  restored  subsequently  to  it ;  that  Judah 
will  be  restored  partly  in  a  converted  and  partly  in  an 
unconverted  state,  partly  by  some  great  maritime  power 
and  partly  by  Antichrist;  that,  being  thus  restored  in  the 
midst  of  wars  and  tumults,  he  will  suffer  veiy  severely ; 
and  that  the  ten  tribes^  being  restored  after  the  downfal 
of  Antichrist  and  consequently  after  the  ceasing  of  those 
wars  and  tumults,  will  return  in  peace  and  tranquillity  to 
the  land  of  their  fathers.  I  presume  not  indeed  to  say, 
that  my  interpretation  must  in  all  points  be  necessarily 
the  true  one,  for  positive  knowledge  can  only  spring  out 
of  the  event :  but  this  I  certainly  will  say,  that  the  differ- 
ent prophecies  themselves  are  in  no  wise  inconsistent, 
because  even  before  their  accomplishment  they  are  capa- 
ble of  being  reduced  to  perfect  harmony. 

The  subject  is  a  very  awful  one,  particularly  in  times 
like  the  present,  when  the  judgments  of  God  are  so  mani- 


88^ 

festly  abroad  in  the  eaith.  My  wish  has  been  to  turn 
the  attention  of  a//,  both  Christians  and  Jews^  to  those 
predictions  which  I  have  collected  together,  and  upon 
which  I  have  commented :  for  all  are  most  deeply  con- 
cerned in  their  accomplishment.  I  may  add,  that  we.  of 
this  great  protestant  maritime  nation  are  peculiarly  inter- 
ested ;  for  it  certainly  is  not  impossible,  that  we  may  be 
the  messenger -people  described  by  Isaiah  as  destined  to 
take  a  veiy  conspicuous  part  in  the  conversion  and  resto- 
ration of  Judah.  Hitherto  we  have  been  preserved,  a 
column  in  the  midst  of  surrounding  ruins.  While  mighty 
empires  totter  to  their  base,  and  while  Antichrist  advances 
with  rapid  strides  to  his  predicted  sovereignty  over  the 
enslared  kings  of  the  Roman  earth ;  roe,  through  the  bles- 
sing of  divine  Providence,  have  attained  to  a  pitch  of  naval 
preeminence  unknown  and  unexampled  in  former  ages* 
Such  being  our  present  circumstances,  it  is  no  less  our 
interest  as  politicians,  than  our  duty  as  Christians,  to 
endeavour,  each  according  to  our  opportunity  and  mea- 
sure, to  promote  the  conversion  of  the  house  of  Judah, 
Whatever  may  be  our  success,  and  whether  we  be  the 
predicted  messenger-people  or  not,  of  this  at  least  we  may 
assure  ourselves,  that  no  labour  of  love,  undertaken  for 
the  sake  of  extending  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom,  will  be 
unrequited  by  our  divine  master.  Should  this  work  be 
made  instrumental  through  the  blessing  of  God  in  open- 
ing the  eyes  of  a  single  individual  of  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel,  the  author  will  not  have  laboured  in  vain. 

I  cannot  conclude  with  greater  propriety  than  in  the 
words  of  Bp.  Newton. 

*'  The  Jews  were  once  the  peculiar  people  of  God:  and 
as  St.  Paul  saith,  Hath  God  cast  away  his  people?  God 
forbid.  We  see,  that  after  so  many  ages  they  are  still 
preserved  by  a  miracle  of  Providence  a  distinct  people  : 
and  why  is  such  a  continual  miracle  exerted,  but  for  the 
greater  illustration  of  the  divine  truth,  and  the  better 
accomplishment  of  the  divine  promises,  as  well  those 
which  are  yet  to  be,  as  those  which  are  already,  fulfilled  ? 
We  see  that  the  great  empires,  which  in  their  tunis  sub- 
dued and  oppressed  the  people  of  God,  are  all  come  to 
suin ;  because,  though  they  executed  the  purposes  of 


God,  yet  that  was  more  than  they  understood :  all  that 
they  intended  was  to  satiate  their  own  pride  and  ambition, 
their  own  cruelty  and  revenge.     And,  if  such  hath  been 
the  fatal  end  of  the  enemies  and  oppressors  of  the  Jeivsy 
let  it  serve  as  a  warning  to  all  those,  who  at  any  time  or 
upon  any  occasion  are  for  raising  a  clamour  and  persecu- 
tion against  them.     They  are  blameable  no  doubt  for 
persisting  in  their  infidelity  after  so  many  means  of  con- 
viction ;  but  that  is  no  warrant  or  authority  for  us  to  pro- 
scribe, to  abuse,  injure,  and  oppress  them,  as  Christians 
of  more  zeal  than  either  knowledge  or  charity  have  in  all 
ages  been  too  apt  to  do.     Chanty  is  greater  than  faith : 
and  it  is  worse  in  us  to  be  cruel  and  uncharitable,  than  it 
is  in  them  to  be  obstinate  and  unbelieving.    Persecution 
is  the  spirit  of  Popery  ;  and  in  the  worst  of  popish  coun- 
tries the  Jews  are  the  most  cruelly  used  and  persecuted : 
the  spirit  of  Protestantism  is  toleration  and  indulgence  to 
weaker  consciences.     Compassion  to  this  unhappy  peo  - 
pie  is  not  to  defeat  the  prophecies :  for  only  wicked 
nations  were  to  harrass  and  oppress  them,  the  good  were 
to  shew  mercy  to  them ;  and  we  should  choose  rather  to 
be  the  dispensers  of  God's  mercies,  than  the  execution- 
ers of  his  judgments.     Read  the  llth  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  io  the  Romans;  and  see  what  the  great  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles,  who  certainly  understood  the  prophecies  bet- 
ter than  anyof  us  can  pretend  to  do,  saith  of  the  infidelity  of 
the  Jews.  Some  of  the  Gentiles  of  his  time  valued  them- 
selves upon  their  superior  advantages ;  and  he  reproves 
them  for  it,  that  they,  who  xvere  cut  out  of  the  olive-tree 
which  is  xvild  by  nature^  atid  xvere  graffed  contrary  to  na- 
ture into  a  good  olive-tree,  should  presume  to  boast  against 
the  natural  branches :  but  what  would  he  have  said,  how 
would  he  have  flamed  and  lightened,  if  they  had  made  reli- 
gion an  instrument  of  faction,  and  had  been  for  stirring  up 
a  persecution  against  them?  We  should  consider,  that  to 
them  we  owe  the  oracles  of  God,  the  scriptures  of  the 
New  Testament  as  well  as  the  Old  ;  we  should  consider 
that  the  glorious  company  of  the  apostles  and  the  goodly 
fellowship  of  the  prophets  were  Jews;  we  should  consider, 
that  of  them  as  concerning  the  flesh  Christ  ca?ne,  the  Sa- 
viour of  tlie  world :  and  surely  something  of  kindness  and 


384 

gratitude  is  due  for  such  infinite  obligations.     Though 
they  are  now  broken  off,  yet  they  are  not  utterly  cast  away. 
Because  ofunhelief^  as  St.  Paul  argues,  they  were  broken 
ojf,  and  thou  standest  by  faith  ;  be  not  high-minded,  but 
fear.     There  will  be  a  time,  when  they  will  be  graffed 
in  again,  and  again  become  the  people  of  God ;  for,  as 
the  apostle  proceeds,  /  would  not,  brethren,  that  ye  should 
be  ignorant  of  this  mystery  (lest  ye  should  be  wise  in  your 
own  conceits  J  that  blindness  in  part  has  happened  to  Israel, 
until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in  ;  and  so  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved.     And  which  (think  ye)  is  the  most 
likely  method  to  contribute  to  their  conversion,  which 
are  the  most  natural  means  of  reconciling  them  to  us  and 
our  religion,  prayer,  argument,  long-suffering,  gentleness, 
goodness ;    or  noise  and  invective,  injury  and  outrage, 
the  malice  of  some,  and  the  folly  and  madness  of  more  ? 
They  cannot  be  worse  than  when  they  crucified  the  Son 
of  God,  and  persecuted  his  apostles  :  but  what  saith  our 
Saviour  ?  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do :  what  saith  his  apostle  St.  Paul  ?  Brethren,  my 
hearfs  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is,  that  they 
7night  be  saved.  In  conformity  to  these  blessed  examples 
our  church  hath  also  taught  us  to  pray  for  them  ;  and 
how  can  prayer  and  persecution  consist  and  agree  toge- 
ther? They  are  only  pretended  friends  to  the  church,  but 
real  enemies  to  religion,  who  encourage  persecution  of 
any  kind.     All  true  sons  of  the  church,  all  true  protes- 
tants,  all  true  Christians,  will,   as  the  apostle  adviseth, 
put  away  all  bitterness,  and  ivrath,  and  anger,  and  cla- 
mour, and  evil-speaking,  with  all  malice  ;  ^nd  will  join 
heart  and  voice  in  that  excellent  collect — Have  mercy 
upon  all  Jexvs,  Turks,  infdels,  and  heretics,  and  take  from 
them  all  ignorance,  hardness  of  heart,  and  contempt  of 
thy  word:  and  so  fetch  them  home,  blessed  Lord,  to  thy 
flock,  that  they  may  be  saved  among  the  remnant  of  the 
true  Israelites-,  and  be  made  one  fold  under  one  shepherd^ 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord*.'' 

•  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  viii.  5. 


SINIS. 


I 


'*tVf- 


I 


4 


^ 


■•;,"\j.^ 


^, 


i^^ 


;0%' 


m 


f'y.'.%  r; 


^^^mte^ 


m 


vvA;j 


:  >-'a-v' 


•I       ''-»k'         4^ 


'  ^ 


^ 


v'  ■  '    ■r, 


,,,XA. 


''%M^ 


'H\r^''-:-\ 


^-yr 


;4»i 


